The Mediterranean and its borderlands

Mr. & Mrs. Horace A. Scott

2208 North Ross Street

Santa Ana, California 92706

Garden o! Gethsemane

THE

MEDITERRANEAN

AND ITS BORDERLANDS

BY
JOEL COOK

AUTHOR OF "FRANCE: HISTORIC AND ROMANTIC*
"ENGLAND: PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE"

ILLUSTRATED

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II

EASTERN COUNTRIES

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.
PHILADELPHIA

COPYRIGHT. IQTO. BY
THE JOHN C. WINSTON Co.

.pan

5145306

G-O

CONTENTS

VOLUME II.

CHAPTER IX.

THE KINGDOM OF HELLAS. PAGE

The Ionian Isles — Ulysses, King of Ithaca — Missolonghi
and Patras — Olympia — Sparta and Argolis — The
Isthmus of Corinth — Parnassus and Delphi — Fa-
mous Grecian Places — The Grecian Capital — The
Neighborhood of Athens 3

CHAPTER X.
THE AEGEAN SEA.

The Island of Crete — The Archipelago — Euboea to
Olympus — Saloniki, Athos and Philippi — The Siege
of Troy — The Levant — The Ruins of Ephesus — The
Maeander to Tarsus — Cyprus — The Isle of Rhodes . 101

CHAPTER XI.
THE GOLDEN HORN.

The Dardanelles — The Bosporus — The Byzantine Capital
— Approach to Constantinople — The Sweet Waters —
The Agia Sophia — Some Other Mosques — The
Seraglio and Treasury — The Chief of Islam — The
Selamlik . . 203

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XII.

PALESTINE AND SYRIA. PAGE

Joppa — Csesarea and Mount Carmel — The Plain of Es-
draelon — Nazareth — Tyre and Sidon — Syrian Coast
Cities — Alexandretta to Aleppo — Antioch — Ascend-
ing the Orontes — Baalbek — Palmyra and Zenobia . 201

CHAPTER XIII.
THE JORDAN AND SINAI.
Damascus — Sources of the Jordan — Galilee — Samaria

— Jericho and the Dead Sea — The Approach to
Jerusalem — The Holy City — Bethlehem to Beer-
sheba — Petra and Sinai — The Suez Canal . . . 363

CHAPTER XIV.
THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS.

The River Nile — Alexandria — Queen Cleopatra — The
Pharaohs and Their Gods — Cairo the Victorious —
The Pyramids and Sphynx 469

CHAPTER XV.

A VOTAGE ON THE NlLE.

The Ancient Egyptian Capital — The Fayoom — Beni-
Hasan to Denderah — The Greatest Egyptian Capital

— Esne and Edfu — The Great Assouan Dam — The
Upper Nile — Khartoum 539

ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME II.

PAGE

GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE Frontispiece

THE ARGIVE PLAIN 40

GALLERY AT TIRYNS 42

LION GATE, MYCENAE . . 46

THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS 72

MARS' HILL, ATHENS .... 80

HERMOUPOLIS, ISLAND OF SYRA 126

THE VALE OF TEMPE 140

TURKISH LADY 202

BOSPORUS; VIEW OF SHORES OF ASIA AND EUROPE . . . 208
GATEWAY OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE OF THE SWEET WA-
TERS OF ASIA 220

MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA . 224

DATE-SELLER 242

CEMETERY OF EYUB AND VIEW OF THE GOLDEN HORN . . 254

MOUNT TABOR 260

VILLAGE OF JENIN AND PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 284

ANCIENT TOWER OF ZERIN, THE ANCIENT JEZREEL . . . 288

TIBERIAS AND THE SEA OF GALILEE . 382

JACOB'S WELL 390

BETHANY 394

PLACE OF THE SAVIOUR'S BAPTISM, RIVER JORDAN . . . 400

MOSQUE OF OMAR, JERUSALEM 412

FISHING BOATS ON A BRANCH OF THE NILE 470

VlEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE GREAT PYRAMID EAST-
WARD OVER THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 526

THE ISLAND OF PHIL^E . 616

THE KINGDOM OF HELLAS

THE MEDITERRANEAN
AND ITS BORDERLANDS

IX
THE KINGDOM OF HELLAS

The Ionian Isles — Corfu — Diaplo — Ithaca — Ulysses — Vathy —
Cephalonia — Leucas — Zante — The Morea — Elis — Missolonghi
— Lord Byron — Arcadia — Patras — Palaeopolis — Pyrgos — •
Archaeologists — Dr. Schliemann — Olympia — Skillous — Pylos
— Navarino — Cape Matapan — The Taygetos — Sparta —
Therapne — Mistra — Sellasia Pass — Tegea — Tripolis — Manti-
nea — Argos — Tiryns — Nauplia — Midea — Herseon — Mycenae —
Nemea — Corinth — Poseidonia — Isthmia — Akro-Corinthe —
Achaia — Sikyon — Megaspelason — JEgina. — The Little Dar-
danelles — Lepanto — Parnassus — Delphi — Salona — Ite"a—
Thermopylae — Panopeus — Livadia — The Helicon — Hippokrene
• — Pegasus — Thespian — Leuktra — Plataea — Thebes — Boeotia —
Cadmus — (Edipus — Tanagra — Aulis — Staniates — The Attic
Plain — Athens — Cecrops — Theseus — Kolonos — Academia —
The Piraeus — Salamis — Eleusis — Phyle — Hymettos — Pente-
likon — Pikermi — Marathon — JSgina — The Oros — Laurion —
Sunion — Cape Colonna.

THE IONIAN ISLES.

The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung, <

3

4 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Where grew the arts of war and peace,

Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet;
But all except their sun is set.

Thus opens Lord Byron's Song of the Greek Poet.
It was one of the products of his patriotic missionary
work, which inspired the great powers of Europe to
come to the rescue of the people of Greece, oppressed
by centuries of Turkish misrule, and found the mod-
ern Kingdom of Hellas in 1830. Eastward from
southern Italy and Sicily is the ancient Ionian Sea,
across which the tourist sails, seeking the classic
shores of Greece. The long Balkan peninsula
stretches southward, having Hellas at its end. To
this kingdom the Ionian Isles, after a brief period
of British control under a protectorate, were added
in November, 1863. The Albanian shore, with its
noble mountain range, is the western verge of the
peninsula, and across the brilliant blue waters from
Brindisi or Catania the steamer rapidly speeds
toward the attractive hills of Corfu, seen hugging
the Albanian coast and mountains so closely that it
spreads in front almost like a shield upon the sea.
This famed island is a charming oriental Madeira,
its pleasant pastoral scenery extending broadly at
the base of the high Albanian ridge, the chief masses
of color predominating in the landscape being the
silvery gray-green foliage of the gnarled olive tree,
distributed lavishly over the surface, and providing
the island's most prominent product, Corfu pre-

THE IONIAN ISLES 5

sents a beautiful scene in the shadow of the moun-
tains.

It is an isle under Ionian skies
Beautiful as a wreck of Paradise.

The steamer skirts the imposing Albanian shore,
a Turkish possession, and passes between it and the
highlands of northern Corfu, rising to the bare and
rocky summit of Monte San Salvatore, elevated
three thousand feet, and crowned by a partially
ruined convent. Then sailing southward, the little
island of Vido at first conceals the town of Corfu,
but, passing behind it, the steamer soon anchors in
the harbor, having as its special feature the double
protuberance of the Fortezza Vecchia, thrust boldly
into the sea to the eastward, and rising abruptly
about two hundred and thirty feet. These pictur-
esque cliffs are surmounted by decaying fortifications,
built during the Venetian rule, and they are so steep
that Xelson's unique plan for capturing them was
to run a frigate ashore at their base and scale the
cliff tops from the fore and main topgallant yards.
Corfu is the largest of the seven Ionian Islands,
which are also called from their number the Hep-
tanesos. It is the Grecian Kerkyra, and was the
Phaecian island of Scheria, that Homer mentions
in the Odyssey. It is broad and mountainous in the
northern portion, with a long, narrow, low and ex-
tremely fertile southern strip. The Corinthians
came over from the mainland, in the eighth century

6 THE MEDITERRANEAN

B. C., establishing Corcyra, which soon grew so
greatly that it attacked the mother city of Corinth,
and in the first naval battle on record defeated the
Corinthians 665 B. C. It later became an ally of
Athens, in the Peloponnesian War, was conquered by
Home, and for more than a dozen centuries was part
of the Byzantine empire, falling to the share of the
Venetians in the partition of 1205 made by the
Crusaders. Venice held it, excepting during a
Neapolitan interval, until 1797, the Turks being
twice repulsed in famous sieges of Corfu, in 1537
and 1715. The French controlled for a few years,
but from 1815 until November, 1863, it formed part
of the " Seven-Island State," the Heptanesos, under
British Lord High Commissioners, of whom the
most noted was Sir Thomas Maitland, popularly
called " King Tom." The island now forms with
Paxos, Antipaxos and Leucas, a nomos, or province,
of which the town of Corfu is the capital.

Corfu has a spacious harbor, enclosed on either
hand by the old fortifications of the Venetians, to the
eastward the bold heights of the Fortezza Vecchia,
and to the northwest the Fortezza Nuova. They
were maintained during the British control, but the
changes in methods of warfare superseded these
massive stone works, and after 1864 they fell into
decay. Similarly also declined the ancient enclosing
wall. As in most oriental harbors, the landing from
ships is by small boats with the usual excitement,

THE IONIAN ISLES T

noise and confusion, trade being active and olive
oil the chief export. Most of the streets are narrow,
the chief highway being Nikephoros Street, with
arcaded houses and open shops, reproducing an ori-
ental bazaar, and leading to the spacious and
luxuriantly-shaded Esplanade, on the eastern verge,
between the town and the Fortezza Vecchia. To the
northward of this street stands the great shrine of
Corfu, the Church of St. Spiridion. He was the
pious bishop of Cyprus in the fourth century, cruelly
tortured in the Diocletian persecutions, and held in
reverence by the Greeks, who brought his remains
here in the fifteenth century. They are borne on
four occasions, every year, in solemn procession
through the streets, and are kept in a silver coffin,
which at other times rests in a chapel adjoining the
high altar. The graystone royal palace faces the
Esplanade, its vestibule containing an antique lion,
found in excavating an ancient temple south of the
town, and believed to date from the seventh cen-
tury B. C. The buildings of the old fortress, on the
high rock to the eastward," are now the Grecian mili-
tary headquarters, and from this elevation there is
a noble view. A pleasant highway skirts the shore
to the southward, popularly known as the Strada
Marina, and near it is the chief of the relics of an-
cient Corfu, a low circular structure of the seventh
century B. C., discovered in removing the old town
walls in 1843 — the Tomb of Menekrates, who,

8 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the inscription says, was representative of his native
town (Eanthe, in Corcyra, and lost his life by drown-
ing. Corfu was a favorite resort of the late Empress
Elizabeth of Austria, who was assassinated by an
anarchist at Geneva. Her beautiful white marble
villa, the Achilleion, was bought in 1907 for $3,000,-
000 by the Emperor William of Germany for a win-
ter resort. It was named from a striking statue of
the hero Achilles in the grounds, the tutelary spirit
chosen by the empress for this, her " Dream Palace."
Everywhere, in the neighborhood of the capital,
the island displays pleasant pastoral scenery, with
gently sloping hills, charming bays, a luxuriant veg-
etation, and the sea dotted with flitting yachts and
the red lateen sails of the native boats, standing over
in the wind, while dominating all is the bold out-
line of the Albanian mountains, enclosing the eastern
horizon, and having behind them the Albanian capi-
tal Jannina, the ancient town that the modern Greeks
regard as an inland Gibraltar. Olive groves, or-
chards and vineyards are everywhere, with flowers
in profusion, and the picturesque dress of the people
is an added attraction. An ample sheepskin cloak
is worn by the men, having underneath, petticoats
and coarse white cotton leggings, the footwear being
curious sandals with curved, high-pointed projecting
toes. A towel-like head-dress surmounts the women,
appearing like a turban, extending into a nun's veil,
falling over their garments. The roads are excel-

THE IONIAN ISLES 9

lent, being a survival of the British protectorate.
The Strada Marina, extending down the peninsula,
between the sea and the inland Lake Kalikiopoulo,
passes the region of the ancient town, now called
Palseopolis and its harbor, the lake, which was the
station for war galleys, having its entrance silted up.
The road ends at the extremity of the peninsula in
a circular space known as the Canone, meaning the
" one-gun battery." This region, like everywhere
else almost, in the Ionian archipelago, is full of
traditions of Ulysses. Opposite is the little isle,
named from its form, Pontikonisi, or the " mouse
island," which is popularly known as the Scoglio di
Ulisse, the local tale being that this island was the
ship that brought Ulysses here, which was wrecked
and turned into stone, by the angry sea god Poseidon
(the Grecian Neptune), who was persecuting him.
On the adjacent shore of the lake flows in a little
brook where the hero was cast up on the beach when
wrecked. Off the northwest coast of Corfu are the
group of Othenian Islands, the smallest, Diaplo, be-
ing the supposed island of Calypso, where Ulysses so
long sojourned with the siren. The favorite drives
are usually bounded by imposing hedges of cactus,
and they display the vast extent of olive growing,
there being about four millions of trees in Corfu,
which, with the sombre cypress, dominate the scenery.
The olives, growing forty to sixty feet high, attain
a, development and beauty elsewhere unequalled,

10 THE MEDITERRANEAN

blossoming in April, and the fruit ripening in the
subsequent winter. The oil, on account of indiffer-
ent methods of manufacture, however, is inferior to
the Italian product. There is also an extensive
growth of figs, oranges, lemons and grapes.

ULYSSES, KING OF ITHACA.

We have come to the land of Ulysses — one of
the most typical representatives of the original
Hellenic race, the hero of Homer's Odyssey.
Ulysses, or Odysseus, was the son of Laertes, and
his wife was Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. He
was King of Ithaca, the island to the southward of
Corfu, and soon after his marriage was summoned
to join Agamemnon and the Greek heroes in the
Trojan war. At first unwilling, he was afterward
compelled to go, and became the shrewdest counsellor
of the Greeks in the siege, the ultimate capture of
Troy being accomplished by his stratagem of the
wooden horse. When Achilles died that hero's
armor was adjudged to Ulysses as the leader who
had done most to make the war successful. Troy
being captured, he set sail for Ithaca, and then began
the long series of adventures described in the
Odyssey, due to the interference of his enemy, the
sea god Poseidon, who was angered because Ulysses
had blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Un-
favorable winds blew his vessel to the coast of Africa,
and he encountered many perils in all parts of the

ULYSSES, KING OF ITHACA 11

unknown seas, in the isles of JEolus and Sicily,
braved the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis, and
even descended into the under world of the dead.
Having lost all his ships and companions, he barely
escaped with his own life, and was shipwrecked on
the enchanted island of Ogygia, described as situated
deep in the ocean, and remote from all intercourse
with gods and men. Here reigned the nymph
Calypso, daughter of Atlas, and for seven years she
detained him by her wiles. She tried every ex-
pedient to induce him to remain and marry her,
even promising eternal youth and immortality, but
he declined for the sake of Penelope. She bore him
two sons, and finally at the command of Zeus, he was
sent homeward, Calypso dying of grief at his leav-
ing. Then he was again wrecked on the Phsecian
island (Corfu), but was ultimately carried south-
ward to Ithaca, in one of the Pha3cian ships, which
were the most noted in those days. Here he was set
ashore, while asleep, by the good Phaecian sailors,
after twenty years' absence, and found Penelope
faithful to his memory, but having a host of suitors
trying to force her to marry one of them, and wasting
his property. Laertes had died, and she was putting
them off by declaring that she must first weave his
shroud, so she wove it by day and unwove it by night,
thus prolonging the task. He got revenge on the
suitors, and the stratagems and disguises by which
he, with a few faithful friends, attacked and slew

12 THE MEDITERRANEAN

them are described in the Odyssey. This great
epic of the poet Homer makes Ulysses the typical
representative of the ancient sailor race whose ad-
venturous voyages moulded and educated the Hellenic
peoples. Consequently, in works of art the hero
is usually represented as wearing a conical sailor's
cap.

Ulysses' mythical kingdom of Ithaca, as it exists
to-day, is a small island, south by east from Corfu,
and not far away from the Greek coast, having out-
side it, and separated by a narrow strait, the larger
Ionian Island of Cephalonia. It is a strangely
shaped rocky mass, covering only thirty-six miles
surface, being almost bisected by the Gulf of Molo,
deeply indented in the eastern side, with rugged
elevated plateaus, rising both to the north and the
south, and the chief town, Vathy, being on a pleasant
bay on the eastern side of the Molo. The narrow
rocky ridge of the Aetos, elevated over six hundred
feet, makes a curious isthmus, connecting the two
parts of the island, curving from west to north, and
gradually expanding and rising into the broad
plateau of Anoi, elevated about 2,700 feet. To the
southeastward, it also becomes the high and curving
plateau and ridge of Stephoni, bending from south
around to east, and elevated 2,200 feet, which is the
backbone of the southern mass of this remarkable
island. To the north and northeast this ridge falls
off to the harbor of \7athy, thus called from its depth,

ULYSSES, KING OF ITHACA 13

and having the pretty little town along its farthest
southeastern verge. This is said to have been
the Harbor of Phorkys, where the Phsecian ship
finally landed Ulysses, on his return after his
wanderings and many adventures. At the en-
trance, as told in the Odyssey, are the " two head-
lands of sheer cliff, which slope to the sea on the
haven's side, and break the mighty wave that ill
winds roll without." All about are ancient graves
and relics of antiquity, though the present town
is comparatively modern. There are many places
recalled here that are mentioned in the Odyssey,
but at best the allusions are mythical, and there
is a historic blank in the tradition, because dur^
ing the middle ages the island was almost de-
populated by the piratical raids and Turkish in-
roads that oppressed it for centuries. During the
nineteenth century, however, Dr. Schliemann and
other antiquarians made extensive researches in lo-
calizing the Homeric descriptions.

On the road through the pass east of the Aetos,
fully commanding all movements along or across the
isthmus, and a short distance west of Vathy, the hill-
side has the remains of fortifications, a cistern and
tower, this having been the ancient stronghold, now
known as the Castle of Odysseus. In the limestone
hill, southwest of the town, is a stalactite cave about
fifty feet in diameter, which is thought to have been
Homer's " Grotto of the Nymphs." To the south-

14 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ward of the town, and near the sea, is the spring of
Perapegadi, its waters running briskly down under
the rocks to the shore below. This rocky cliff is said
to be the Korax Rock, and the spring, the Arethusa
of Homer, where the Odyssey tells us that the swine
of Eumaeos ate " abundance of acorns and drank the
black water, things that make in good case the rich
flesh of swine." The pastures of Eumceos, which
lay " on a mighty rock," and " in a place with a
wide prospect " are located above, on the Merathia
plateau, rising over 900 feet. The Homeric town of
Ithaka, where the hero's capitol and palace stood, is
claimed to be in the neighborhood of Stavros, in the
northwestern portion of the island, where the plateau
of Anoi falls off toward the sea. Here is indented
in the western coast the Bay of Polis (meaning " the
city "), its valley extending inland to Stavros, a mod-
ern village of scattered houses. There are various
ancient remains in the neighborhood, among vine-
yards and olive groves, and to the northward a rude
stairway leads up to a rocky plateau known as
" Homer's School." The original settlement in this
region is traced by examining the ancient remains,
which date from the seventh century B. C. to the
end of the Roman empire. We are told that the
suitors for Penelope waited on " a rocky isle in the
mid sea, midway between Ithaka and rugged Samos,
Asteris, a little isle." This is the Daskaleo, or
" wooers' islet," off the shore, toward Cephalonia,

ULYSSES, KING OF ITHACA 15

near where the village of Samos is located, although
farther southward. But all these matters existed
far back in the misty realms of the ancient Grecian
myths. On the highest part of the hill, above the
Bay of Polis, with a fine outlook over the sea, is the
ancient Kastro, or castle of the town, its southern
landward view being bounded by the massive Anoi,
the Homeric Xeritos.

Cephalonia, the Grecian Kephallenia, and Homer's
Same, one of the largest Ionian Islands, is westward
of Ithaca. It was part of the kingdom of Ulysses.
The name comes from the elevation of its mountains,
rising in the highest ridge of the Ionian archipelago,
the summit of the ^Enos being elevated 5,310 feet,
the Monte Leone of the Venetians, giving a superb
view. A stone pyramid is on the top, and here was
an altar to Zeus, there being found the calcined bones
of the animals offered in sacrifice. Argostoli, the
capital, is on a pleasant harbor, running far into the
southwestern coast of the island, and it exports cur-
rants, wine and olive oil. Xear by are the famous
" sea mills," driven by a current of sea-water flow-
ing a short distance into the land, and then falling
through fissures in the limestone, thus furnishing
the power. About five miles southeast, in a splen-
did position, is the old Castle of St. George, the
Venetian stronghold, founded in the thirteenth cen-
tury, which dominated the island. The town of
Kephallenia, mentioned by Ptolemy, was near by,

16 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and to the westward are the ruins of the Grecian set-
tlement of Kranici, which survived under the
Romans. The little village of Samos, the ancient
Same, meaning " on the shore," is at the sea outlet
of a valley, forming a sheltered bay on the eastern
coast. It was noted in the Grecian era, and de-
stroyed upon the Roman conquest, but afterward re-
vived. Here are numerous ancient remains. On
the extreme northern extremity of Cephalonia in
1085 died the Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard,
and the village of Phiscardo, where he expired, re-
produced his name.

Leucas, north of Ithaca, closely hugs the Grecian
shore, and is practically a mountain chain, culmi-
nating in the summit of Mount St. Elias, elevated
3,870 feet. A lagoon about two miles wide sepa-
rates it from the mainland, the channel between hav-
ing to be dredged to prevent shoaling. Sand strips
connect with the shore, and on one of these is the
chief town at the northeastern extremity of the island,
Leucas, where earthquakes are so frequent that most
of the houses are small wooden structures. The
Venetians named this land Santa Maura. To the
northward, and near Corfu, are the diminutive
islands of Paxos and Antipaxos. Southward from
Cephalonia is the seventh island of the Ionian group,
Zante, the Grecian Zakynthos, famous for its cur-
rants, which are a dried small grape growing here
and on the neighboring shores of Greece. It has

MISSOLONGHI AND PATRAS 17

always been an earthquake sufferer, and is largely
a mountain ridge, falling off to luxuriantly fertile
plains on the eastern side.

MISSOLONGHI AND PATEAS.

From the hilltops of Zante, across the blue waters
of the strait to the eastward, is seen the classic land
of Greece. It is the coast of Elis of the Morea, pro-
jecting in the bluff promontory of Chelonatas, as the
ancients called it, having the little seaport of Kyllene
nestling at its northern base, while the shore beyond
trends toward the northeast, to the entrance of the
Gulf of Patras. As the steamer moves along, the
ruins of the old castle on the promontory, built by
Geoffrey of Villehardouin, in the days of the Bur-
gundian rule, spread extensively over the hill. It
was in those days the greatest baronial stronghold
in the Morea, but the Turks destroyed it in 1825.
The steamer skirts the rather flat coast of Elis to
its termination at Cape Kalogria, where another
ruined castle, Larisa, dominates an eminence, and
then it crosses the entrance of the Gulf of Patras to
Missolonghi, the Grecian Mesolongion, on the north-
ern shore, a broad lagoon separating the little town
from the sea. This was one of the noted places in
the Greek war of independence, located in a low and
marshy region, a long causeway leading across the
lagoon to the town. It was a small fishing village in

the early nineteenth century, when the Greeks of
VOL. II— 2

18 THE MEDITERRANEAN

western Hellas began their resistance to the Turks,
and made the place their stronghold. They suc-
cessfully defended it against attacks in 1822 and
1823, the latter siege being repulsed by the hero
Marco Bozzaris, who fell in a night sortie in August.
It was then that Lord Byron, who took such a warm
interest in Grecian independence, appeared on the
scene. He had come to Cephalonia, where he char-
tered vessels for the relief of Missolonghi, and con-
tributed a fund of $60,000, by which its fortifications
were restored and strengthened. Later, he trans-
ferred his residence to the threatened town, and his
arrival, in January, 1824, was received with every
mark of honor that Grecian gratitude could devise.
He was attacked with fever in April, however, and
died on the 19th, at the early age of 37. The Turks,
under Ibrahim Pasha, began a third siege in April,
1825, continuing a year, when the almost famished
garrison attempted to cut their way out by a desper-
ate sortie, April 22, 1826, at midnight. There were
three thousand troops, and about twice as many non-
combatants, including women and children, who
made the attempt. Thirteen hundred men, two hun-
dred women and a few children managed to escape,
the others being driven back and mercilessly slaugh-
tered, the result being that the Greeks, in despera-
tion, exploded the powder magazines, destroying both
friends and foes. The Turks then were masters of
the ruined town, but in 1828 their control ended in

MISSOLONGHI AND PATRAS 19

a surrender, when Ibrahim Pasha left the Morea, and
the way was paved for Grecian independence. The
Heroon, the burial place of the heroic Greeks who
conducted the defence, is outside the eastern gate,
within a fort. There is a large funeral mound,
while a smaller one contains the heart of Lord Byron,
his statue standing in conspicuous position. Here
is also the tomb of Marco Bozzaris.

The Morea, so called, supposedly, from its mul-
berry trees, is the southern peninsula of Greece,
known anciently as the Peloponnesus, a name that
not long ago was revived. The narrow isthmus of
Corinth connects it with the mainland of the Balkan
peninsula, there being deeply indented gulfs on either
hand. Its central district is Arcadia, a region of
mountains, which is encircled by other mountains,
descending in terraces toward the north, and also
in peninsulas extending southward into the sea. Out
of these highlands flow many streams, tumbling down
the slopes, torrents in seasons of rains, but after the
summer droughts mostly dry beds. The old Greeks
believed that the gods they worshipped dwelt in the
mountains, and therefore these mountains were ven-
erated. The high ranges also formed natural bar-
riers, dividing the people into many little states with
separate rulers, and often at war. It required very
serious attacks from outside enemies to effectively
overcome these internal jealousies and unite them in
fighting the common foe. The Morea ultimately fell

20 THE MEDITERRANEAN

under the Roman rule, and on the downfall of the
Byzantine empire was conquered by the Burgun-
dians and then by the Venetians, passing to the Nea-
politan house of Anjou, and in the fifteenth century
to the Turks. The war of liberation ended in the
foundation of the Grecian kingdom of Hellas.

The deeply indented Gulf of Patras has, as its
chief port, on the southern shore, the city of Patras,
with forty thousand people, the capital of Achaia
and the largest town in the peninsula, an active
harbor whence is sent a valuable export of currants
and olive oil, tlje chief products of the country. At
the dawn of history this was known as Aroe, the
" arable land," the first king being the legendary
Eumelos, who was " rich in flocks." Achaean in-
vaders came from the east and expelled the original
people, naming the settlement Patrse. It was, like
Corinth, an early seat of Christianity, and among its
vague traditions is one that St. Andrew was crucified
and buried here, he being the patron saint. At
Patras was first raised the standard of rebellion, in
April, 1821, which ended in the Grecian liberation.
The result was its almost entire destruction by the
Turks, but it has been rebuilt, with wide arcaded
streets and modern buildings that are attractive.
The old Venetian castle, which was the Turkish
stronghold, rises on an eminence back of the town,
is its chief relic of the past, and is now a prison and
barracks. From Patras, around the western coast

MISSOLONGHI AND PATRAS 21

of the peninsula, is constructed a railroad, which
gives in many places beautiful views over the sea,
and leads to Olympia, famous in the annals of an-
cient Greece. The route crosses the outlying foot-
hills of the Arcadian mountains, passing various
ruined cities of the olden time. Among these is
Palseopolis, with many relics of the Roman period,
which marks the site of the ancient city of Elis,
dating from the fifth century B. C., a city without
walls, at the foot of a hill surmounted by a temple of
Athena. At Pyrgos, another busy town, exporting
currants, the route turns inland from the sea, along
the broad plain adjoining the Alpheios river, and
leads to the sacred shrine of ancient Greece, Olympia.
Pyrgos is the capital of the modern province of Elis,
and all this region was most unexpectedly startled,
in July, 1909, by a sharp earthquake shock, which
was felt all the way from Patras to Pyrgos, throw-
ing down the houses in several villages and killing
over three hundred persons.

!N"o country in the world has more relics or more
interesting survivals of early architecture and civili-
zation than Greece, and consequently it has become
a fruitful field for archaeological exploration. Search-
ing parties wander over this most attractive land and
find many treasures. A government permit is neces-
sary before starting, which is readily obtained, but
report must be made of all the " finds." The ex-
plorers take camp equipage, and can readily secure

22 THE MEDITERRANEAN

laborers to do the digging, at a drachme or two a day,
this coin, representing a franc or about eighteen cents,
being the Grecian silver coin named after the origi-
nal idea of the draclime, or handful of coin given
in barter. Much of the surface is thus dug over, and
occasionally a treasure is unearthed, an inscription
or a statue, or sometimes the foundations of old
structures, with vases, columns or other relics.
Systematic explorations have long been made by the
governments of France and Germany, and also
through American liberality, which supports the
American Institute of Archaeology at Athens, while
similar schools are established there by other nation-
alities. Many of the most famous scientists of the
world spend their time in hunting Grecian treasures,
and the value of what is found goes one-half to the
government, one-quarter to the finder, and one-quar-
ter to the land owner. The objects discovered reveal
the modes of life of the ancient peoples, not only of
Greece, but also of Egypt, Persia, Phoenicia and
Rome. The greatest delver in Greece and its neigh-
borhood has been Dr. Heinrich Schliemann, who be-
came so fascinated by his schoolboy studies of the
Trojan War that after an early life of hard work
he devoted his fortune to these investigations. He
was of German birth, a poor cabin boy, who was
shipwrecked on the Holland coast, and became at-
tached to a mercantile house in Amsterdam. In
1870 the Greek government gave him permission

MISSOLONGHI AND PATRAS 23

to explore ruins, and he labored for twenty years in
explorations, including Troy, his excavations develop-
ing many discoveries about the ancient Greeks. He
died in 1890, and his " Palace of Troy," at Athens,
is a famous treasure-house, surmounted by statues
of the noted heroes about whom Homer sang.

There are some difficulties in these journeyings
for relic finding. The roads of Greece are seldom
good, and in the rural districts the Xenedochia, or
inns, and the humbler cottages, known as Khans, are
unattractive, while the traveller must provide in
them his bed-covering and much of the food, also
plenty of insect-powder with which to combat va-
rious pests that are more to be feared in the present
era than the brigands of whom so much formerly was
said. The donkey and the bicycle provide the usual
means of locomotion. The great scenic attractions
of the country are enhanced by the wonderfully clear
atmosphere and the widely varied range of vegeta-
tion. The different elevations of the surface give it
the flora of every clime, from the palms, olives and
fruits of the tropics up through the corn and vines,
the walnuts and chestnuts of the temperate zone, to
the higher-growing pines and beeches, and finally
the Arctic vegetation of the mountain slopes, capped
with snow the greater portion of the year. The cli-
mate is changeable and cold, due to the strong winds
coming out of the mountains, while the winter pro-
duces copious rains. But the spring brings bright

24 THE MEDITERRANEAN

flowers and luxuriant vegetation, and fully explains
how the old-time people of this beautiful land made
the flowers so prominent in festal ceremony and
wreathed garlands of blossoms over everything.
There are many flocks of sheep, and on St. George's
Day the shepherds take them out to the pastures on
the hills, marking it by feasting on spring lamb, for
this is the only meat-meal they have in the year, liv-
ing the rest of the time on black bread, garlic and
cheese with sometimes a little of the resinous wine
of the country. These shepherds are brawny fellows,
in long blouses belted at the waist, knee breeches and
woolen stockings, with brilliant handkerchiefs wound
about their heads for turbans. The peasant women
dress in homespun and do much of the labor. The
country houses are chiefly small, low cottages, built
of stone, which is plenty, and having roofs of sun-
baked mud. The fire is made on a little hearth, a
hole in the roof letting out the smoke. Once in a
while a better house has a chimney. Like the an-
cient Grecian heroes, the people sleep on platforms
raised above the floor, and piled with goatskins, sheep-
skins and rugs, there being no beds. They congre-
gate in little villages, there being few isolated farm
houses, and from these they go out in the morning to
cultivate their little farms, generally but three or
four acres in size, and worked in the same way now
as they were two thousand years ago.

The Greek country-folk wear picturesque costumes

OLYMPIA 25

when in gala attire. Much of this clothing is home-
made, the hand-loom and spinning-wheel being found
in most of the little cottages, where the women make
the fabrics. The men dress in short but very full
skirts, often taking twenty to thirty yards of cotton
cloth, and also wear a blue or red jacket, ornamented
with gold or silver embroidery. There is a broad
leathern belt to carry a pistol or knife, and the feet
are covered often by red shoes, having large black
tassels. A jaunty red cap with a long, blue tassel
adorns the head, the tassel sweeping to the shoulder.
The women frequently wear blue skirts, black waists,
veils and Turkish slippers, and have profuse silver
ornaments, many of them very beautiful. In the
colder weather they wear heavily embroidered gar-
ments with fur borders, having red sashes and veils.
The silver ornaments are conspicuous, adorning the
head, arms and neck, and there are often seen valu-
able strings of antique coins used as necklaces, amu-
lets, and in similar ways. All are fond of flowers,
and they devote much attention to this attractive cul-
tivation.

OLYMPIA.

The river Alpheios flows, in winding course, west-
ward from the Arcadian mountains to the sea, and
upon the plain, on its northern bank, is Olympia, the
great shrine of ancient Greece. It never was a town,
as it contained few dwellings, but was regarded as a

26 THE MEDITERRANEAN

sacred locality, with temples and public buildings,
its importance coming from its shrines and the fa-
mous athletic games, instituted in honor of Zeus, and
celebrated for over a thousand years by the Greeks
of all tribes and states. Whatever might have been
the internecine warfare going on, a period of truce
was established when the time came that was set for
the games, in which all true Greeks participated.
The origin of these Olympian games is lost in the
mystery of the past, but they are said to have been
reorganized in the ninth century B. C. by Iphitos of
Elis and Lycurgus of Sparta, in obedience to the
oracle at Delphi, and these leaders introduced the
truce, known as the Ekecheiria, or the " Peace of
God," during the celebration of the games, making
them a national festival. The chronicle of the regu-
lar victors in the games begins 776 B. C. with the
triumph of Koroabos, and from this date the
Olympiads, in chronological periods of four years
each, were reckoned. The games were celebrated
at the first full moon after the summer solstice, and
Olympia being in Elis, that people, at the opening
of the sacred month, sent heralds throughout Greece
to announce the games and proclaim the truce.
Then came in the deputations from the various states,
escorting their champions, some being represented
by embassies with elaborate display. The celebration
continued during five days, and included all kinds
of athletics, wrestling, boxing, hurling the discus,

OLYMPIA 27

foot-races, chariot-races, and similar contests, the
culminating feature being a series of sacrifices to
Zeus and the other gods, directed by the priests.
The foot-race in the Stadium was the earliest com-
petition, and -was regarded as the most important.
Subsequently, in the eighteenth Olympiad, the
Pentathlon, a five-field contest, was introduced, be-
ing a combination of leaping, hurling the discus,
running, wrestling and boxing, arranged so that only
the victors in the first contest competed in the later
ones, the final bout being boxing between the best
two champions. The first chariot race with four
horses came in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, the first
horse race in the thirty-third Olympiad, and the
Hoplitodromos, or " soldiers' race," in heavy march-
ing order, was introduced in the sixty-fifth Olympiad,
B. C. 520.

Free-born Greeks of unstained character only
could be competitors, and they had to undergo ten
months of preliminary training. Immediately after
the final contest the palm was handed the victor, and
at the end of the games prizes were given all the
victors in all the games being branches from the
sacred olive tree planted by Hercules. The great-
est value was given the Olympian olive branch by the
Greeks, its acquisition not only being a distinction
for the winners, but giving the highest honor to their
families and states. The champions dwelt in
Olympia at the public expense, and could erect a

28 THE MEDITERRANEAN

statue, which in case of a triple victory could bear
the victor's features. Votive offerings were also al-
lowed, and in course of time there thus were col-
lected in the Altis a forest of statues, which later was
repeatedly plundered by the Romans. J^ot only
athletes, but also intellectual giants, appeared at these
games. Here Herodotus read part of his history,
orators declaimed, and painters exhibited their art.
Themistocles, after Salamis, received his greatest
triumph in the Stadium, and Plato later was given
high honors. The zenith of the games was after
the Persian wars, as the Hellenic influence had then
extended, but after the Roman domination they de-
clined, too many professionals got control, the cele-
bration lost popular interest, and the Emperor Theo-
dosius terminated them A. D. 394.

In the decadent period, to protect themselves
against barbarian invasions, the people, at the close
of the fourth century, converted the neighborhood
of the temple of Zeus into a fortress, taking the ma-
terials from the surrounding buildings. Then a
couple of earthquakes, in the sixth century, threw
down the temple, landslips came, and, ultimately, in-
undations of the Alpheios covered everything ten
to fifteen feet deep in sand. Thus the region slum-
bered throughout the dark ages, but in the nineteenth
century its reclamation was undertaken. Under
German auspices, beginning in 1875, excavations
were made, freeing the entire surface of the superin-

OLYMPIA 29

eumbent sand, and gathering most of the art objects
in the museum, an ornate building adjoining the re-
stored site. To the northwest rises the Kronos Hill,
which is elevated over four hundred feet, giving an
excellent outlook over the partially restored Olympia.
When the work of excavation had attracted general
attention, a movement began to revive the Olympian
games. This was warmly supported, but it was
found impossible to re-establish them at Olympia.
The view from the Kronos Hill over the ruins of
temples and altars, disclosing the spacious Altis,
where the sacred buildings stood, with the almost en-
tirely uncovered Stadium to the left, showed how
impossible it was to revive the games on the old site,
where there were neither buildings nor accommoda-
tions for visitors. There is no town to provide for
them, and the Stadium, excepting the laying bare of
the starting and goal posts, is still buried under the
sands of fifteen centuries. So the revival was made
at Athens in 1896, and the scope enlarged to a com-
petition in which all nations could participate. In
1906, when the games were again held at Athens,
most of the prizes were carried off by enterprising
Anglo-Saxons.

The Olympian Altis, or " sacred walled precinct,"
which has been excavated, is about 570 by 750 feet,
and spreads at the foot of the Kronos Hill. Here
were all the famous buildings, the Temples of Zeus,
Hera, Metroon (the mother of the gods), Pelops, and

30 THE MEDITERRANEAN

others ; the Prytaneion, where the victors were enter-
tained ; their statues, and many votive offerings.
The Temple of Zeus was in the centre, built in the
fifth century B. C., surrounded by a Doric colonnade
of thirty-eight columns, and constructed on an artifi-
cial mound. Within it stood the famous statue of
Zeus, carved by Phidias, a colossal work forty feet
high, and standing on a huge limestone pedestal,
which seemed almost too large for the temple, and
which won for Phidias the distinction of being a work
" with which no other artist can compete." The
god, carved in gold and ivory, sat upon a throne,
holding in his right hand a figure of victory, and in
his left the sceptre, crowned by an eagle. Everything
was covered with mythological reliefs, and the ma-
jestic face and head crowned by a golden wreath of
olive, below which the hair fell in luxuriant tresses.
This statue has entirely disappeared, but there are
remains of the pedestal, which is partly restored.
The statue was usually covered by a curtain, only
withdrawn on solemn occasions. When Pausanias
saw it in the second century B. C., the curtain was
embroidered in purple wool, and was the gift of
Antiochos IV of Syria. There then stood near by
a water vessel on a marble stand, marking the spot
struck by the thunderbolt with which Zeus announced
to Phidias his satisfaction with the work. To the
northward of the temple, was the elliptical altar of
Zeus, the centre of the Greek paganism. Its site has

OLYMPIA 31

been partially exhumed, and around it were found
traces of other smaller altars, with the remains of
sacrificial bones and ashes.

Near the foot of the hill was the Temple of Hera,
the oldest in Olympia, and said to be the most ancient
in Greece, originating the Doric colonnade, the earli-
est columns being of wood, of which one remained
at Pausanias' visit. Forty-four columns surround
this ancient structure, and remains of most of them
have been found. We are told that the Greeks
adopted fluting on their columns, to make a more
perfect finish. They claimed that a smooth column
melted in the light, making its lines uncertain, and
in order to restore sharpness of view, they conceived
the idea of the fluted ridges, catching the light, in
contrast with the darker hollow spaces between.
Similarly they cut deep lines at the junction of the
capital with the top of the column. Thus they
made impressive the vertical outlines of their build-
ings and the beauty of the columns. To the east-
ward of the Temple of Hera was the smaller Temple
of the Metroon, and behind it, on a terrace at the
base of the hill, a row of treasuries, which preserved
various votive offerings given by states and cities.
Westward of the Altis flows the river Kladeos, beyond
which rises the hill of Drouva, over 500 feet, having
at its base the museum, wherein are gathered the an-
tiquities found in the excavations. From the sur-
mounting village of Drouva a view is had over the

32 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Olympian remains, while behind it the brow of the
hill gives a charming outlook, displaying the valleys
of the Kladeos and Alpheios, far westward to the
sea, with the distant Zante Island beyond.

A short distance southwestward from Olympia
are the remains of the village of Skillous, which, in
394 B. C., the Spartans presented to Xenophon, when
banished from Athens, in gratitude for his services
in the famous " retreat of the ten thousand," B. C.
401. Here was brought his share of the spoil cap-
tured in that campaign, and the people point out a
venerable tomb said to be his. Xenophon died about
354 B. C. Farther south on the coast is indented the
deep Bay of Pylos, its entrance sheltered by the
elongated rocky island of Sphakteria, and having a
splendid mountain amphitheatre to the eastward,
the ancient .^Egaleon. Pylos was the Navarino of
the middle ages, but since the Grecian independence
it has resumed the original name. Recent excava-
tions near Pylos have uncovered remains of a
vaulted building said to have been the palace of the
Homeric king ISTestor. It contained golden orna-
ments and other relics. For more than three cen-
turies Pylos was held by the Turks nearly all the
time, until 1821, when the Greeks captured it, but
were driven out by Ibrahim Pasha in 1825, who
devastated the neighborhood. Navarino is famous
as being the scene of the last struggle of the Greeks
for independence. The British and their allies, in

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 33

October, 1827, had demanded the Turks' evacuation
of the Morea, and, upon refusal, Admiral Codring-
ton, on October 27, entered the harbor with twenty-six
warships, and in a conflict, continuing about two
hours, destroyed the greater part of the Turkish fleet,
sinking fifty-three ships and capturing twenty-nine.
The Turks lost six thousand men, and by this defeat
the Grecian independence was won. The Grecian
government, in 1906, began efforts to raise some of
these ships, for the recovery of the treasure believed
to be aboard. The southern extremities of the Morea
are three protruding peninsulas, the central and long-
est one being the Mani, terminating in the ancient
Tsenaron, a rocky ridge which stretches into the sea,
surmounted by a lighthouse, and now known as Cape
Matapan, which, next to Cape Tarifa, in Spain, is the
most southern point of Europe.

SPAKTA AND AEGOLIS.

The elongated Mani peninsula, terminating the
Morea, has on either hand a deeply indented bay, the
Messenian Gulf to the westward and the Lakonian
Gulf on the east. Each is thrust far up into the
land, continuing as an intervale between the high
mountain ridges of the Morea, and each also has a
river seeking the sea. The ridgy backbone of the
peninsula rises, between these intervales, into the
long Taygetos mountain, culminating in the peak of

St. Elias, elevated 7,900 feet, and surmounted by a
VOL. II— 3

34 THE MEDITERRANEAN

chapel. Along the eastern intervale flows the classic
Eurotas, now known as the Iri, down to the Lako-
nian Gulf, where its mouth is in a broad marsh. Up
this famous river, to the northeast of St. Elias, at
the junction of its tributary stream, the Knakion,
was the site of one of the most renowned cities of an-
cient Greece, Sparta. To-day there are but scant
relics of the famous place, and the modern village of
Sparta, not yet a century old, occupies the southern
part of the older site. The classic Eurotas is a shal-
low stream, and flows merrily by, its current provid-
ing water power for a number of mills, and becoming
a raging torrent when swollen in the rainy season.
Ancient Sparta was about six miles in circumference,
a collection of five villages, and there are various re-
mains of broken columns and decayed walls and
towers scattered over an extensive surface. This
noted city, in the olden time, held the dominant
power over the Morea, and was the capital of the
powerful Lacedaemonian race. It is about twenty
miles north of the sea, in a fertile and beautiful
valley, enclosed all about by the mountain ramparts,
which were the defensive walls of Sparta.

In the dim traditions of the past the Leleges were
the earliest inhabitants of the region, Lelex being the
first king. The beautiful Princess Sparta was his
granddaughter, and Lacedsemon, the son of Jupiter
and Taygete (whose name was given the mountain
ridge), came along and wooed and won her. He

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 35

gave his own name to the people and the country, and
her name to the city which he founded as its capital.
In the mythical times Menelaus reigned at Sparta
and married Helen, with the resultant Trojan war.
The first event in actual history at Sparta seems to
have been the record of the establishment of the code
of Lycurgus, about 825 B. C. This system made the
Spartans all warriors, the individual being regarded
as existing exclusively for the state, to which he de-
voted his time, energies and property. From his
birth the child was under public control and trained
for warlike exercises, being taken at seven years of
age and educated in public classes, by the severest
training, to habits of dexterity, subordination, and a
terseness of speech which became known as " la-
conic." From thirty to sixty years of age he was
subject to military service. Under this Lycurgan
system Sparta had a great career of conquest and
became the first state in Greece. But the Romans
ultimately got control, building the later walls to
repel Gothic raids, for by the close of the fourth cen-
tury of our era Alaric and the Goths had laid waste
the country. It was then held in rotation by Slavs,
Byzantians, Franks, Venetians and Turks, until the
establishment of Grecian independence.

Sparta has not much to show now. The alleged
" Tomb of Leonidas " is the chief ruin, a base of a
monument measuring about twenty-five by fifty feet,
being a few courses of large squared blocks. But

36 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Leonidas was not buried here, his grave being shown
in another part of the town. There are other re-
mains, on the hills to the west and north, which have
been disclosed by excavations, but none of these rep-
resent ancient fortifications. The city had no walled
defences until near the Christian era, for its ancient
defences were really made at the mountain passes
entering the valley, and depended upon the personal
bravery of the people. It was not surrounded by a
wall until about 192 B. C. There were some thirty
thousand inhabitants at the time of its greatest glory.
The Acropolis was the hill to the westward, where
was the theatre, which is partially exhumed, but all
the other buildings once there have disappeared.
The Grecian government has gathered most of the re-
covered antiquities in a handsome museum, which
adorns the modern town. To the southeast, on a hill
beyond the Eurotas, is ancient Therapne, where was
the Menelaion, a sanctuary where the people wor-
shipped Menelaus and Helen as divine, imploring
them for the gifts of strength and beauty. Recent
excavations here have uncovered a rectangular ter-
raced structure, but no temple, though numerous
votive offerings were found. To the westward, on
the edge of Mount Taygetos, is the Frankish town of
Mistra, the construction of which required the taking
from old Sparta of a large amount of building ma-
terials, and on a mountain spur above it, elevated
about 2,100 feet, is its guardian castle of Misithras,

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 37

the ivy-clad ruins dating from the thirteenth century.
In Mistra are elaborate remains of churches and con-
vents of the Byzantine era, with later constructions
by the Turks. From the heights is given a beauti-
ful view over the far-spreading Eurotas intervale.

Upon the Eurotas river bank, in the spring of
1906, the excavators for the British School of
Archaeology, at Athens, working under direction of
Mr. R. M. Dawkins, discovered the temple of
Artemis. The original " find " was due to a school-
boy, who picked up some leaden statuettes, and the
extensive excavations made afterward disclosed the
altar and a profusion of relics, including leaden
statuettes, and gold, silver, bronze and ivory orna-
ments, terra cotta and pottery. The worship of
Artemis Orthia descended from prehistoric times, at
Sparta, being associated with cruel and savage rites,
the scourging matches taking place before the altar
of the goddess constituting the most severe and yet
honored ordeals of the Spartan youth. Cicero,
Pausanias, and Plutarch witnessed them, and Plu-
tarch records that he had seen several persons die
from the sufferings entailed. The 1906 excavations
disclosed an altar of the goddess, with the remains
of a temple of the sixth century B. C. There were
also found superposed the remains of a later Greek
altar and an altar of the Roman period ; also masses
of charcoal and the debris of sacrifices. In 1907
the archaeologists dug deeper, through several feet of

38 THE MEDITERRANEAN

sand, and found below a copious deposit of votive
offerings brought to the goddess and a still earlier
altar of large size, held to be of the eighth century
B. C. The diggings continued, and in May, 1908,
they brought to light a temple of the eighth or
ninth century B. C., smaller than those above,
a shrine constructed to contain a primitive wooden
image of the goddess, roofed with painted tiles
and built with unbaked bricks, set in a framework
of wooden beams, all resting on a stonework
foundation, this alone being preserved, though
buried under debris and bricks. A paved area of
cobble-stones separates it from the altar discovered
in 1907. This is believed to be the oldest Greek
temple yet brought to light, a primitive Dorian
sanctuary. The ivory, bronze and other votive offer-
ings, found with it in great profusion, add to the evi-
dence given that they were carried thither by a mi-
grating race ; so that there is much speculation among
the archaeologists as to the light they shed on the
Dorian migration. The advent of these people into
the Peloponnesus was mythically known to the an-
cients as the " Return of the Heraclidse," and it
is urged, from the character of the objects found
here, that they were aliens who made their way into
Greece from the north of the Balkan peninsula. The
jewelry, ornaments, bronzes and pottery found re-
produce relics of the Iron Age elsewhere on the con-
tinent of Europe. Thus it is inferred that the

SPARTA AND ARCOLIS 39

savage rites of Artemis Orthia were brought into
Sparta, together with the original image of the god-
dess here enshrined, by a race coming from some
other part of Europe.

These industrious excavators also found in 1907,
north of the modern town, and on the western spur
of the Acropolis Hill, the remains of the Hieron of
Athena Chalcioseus, or the " Brazen House," the
name being derived from the bronze plates adorning
the shrine of the goddess. Remnants of these plates
were found, and also numerous bronze nails, by
which they had been fastened. This shrine was for
a long period the most celebrated sanctuary in
Sparta, being an inviolate asylum. It was here that
Pausanias, the Platsean victor, took refuge when
his traitorous correspondence with the invading
Persians had been discovered. The incensed Greeks
knew they could not subject him to violence, but
they built up the door, his mother laying the first
stone, and then they took off the roof. Thus he
perished of cold and hunger, but to prevent pollut-
ing the shrine, he was removed just before dying.
Here came Aristomenes, the leader of the revolted
Messenians, when he had penetrated into the city in
the night, and hung up his shield with an inscrip-
tion of defiance. Stamped tiles bearing the name
of the goddess and her bronze statuette have also
been found. Just below this the great theatre of
Sparta is partially hollowed out of the hillside.

40 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Following up the oleander-grown valley of the
noted river Eurotas, we start northward, and grad-
ually mount the ridge on its eastern side into the
Pass of Sellasia, .where the Macedonians defeated
the Spartans, 221 B. C., and compelled them to join
the Achaean League. Crossing the watershed, the
route passes through ancient Tegea, famous as the
foe and then as the ally of the Spartans, to the
comparatively modern city of Tripolis on the plain
of Arcadia. This place was founded by the Turks
at the beginning of their control, and was their
capital of the Morea and the residence of the pasha.
Its name comes from the fact that it is built upon
the domains of three ancient cities, Tegea, Pal-
lantian and Mantinea. It is the central market
town of the Arcadian plain, and in the suburbs are
the partially excavated remains of the ancient cities,
which are interesting mines of archaeology. It was
at Mantinea the battle was fought, in July, 362
B. C., in which the Thebans and their allies defeated
the Spartans, the victory being dearly bought by the
death of the Theban general Epaminondas, after
which the Theban power waned.

From Tripolis the mountain ridge to the east-
ward of the Arcadian plain is crossed to the deeply
indented Gulf of Argolis and the broad Argolis
plain, through which the Panitza, which was the
ancient Inachos, flows from the northward. This
noted river, of both ancient and modern fame, is

The Argive Plain.

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 41

a small affair, usually a deep bed through which
the waters make their way to the sea only when
swollen by freshets. The Argolis plain was the
land of the Argives, and the name of the town was
the name of the plain, whence went forth Agamem-
non, at the head of the Greeks, to the siege of Troy.
The place is now an aggregation of low houses,
mostly with red roofs, having the Larisa, or Acrop-
olis, rising nearly a thousand feet above its western
verge and surmounted by an old-time citadel. The
origin of this famous Grecian city is mythical, and
is attributed to the goddess Hera, who won the
plain in a contest with Poseidon. Then came the
Danaos, and afterward the Dorians, who made Argos
powerful, the king Pheidon extending its power over
the Peloponnesus, and defeating the Spartans, 669
B. C., but ultimately Sparta triumphed. Unlike so
many of these very ancient Grecian cities, Argos
has always been inhabited, and to-day has about ten
thousand people. Its present buildings are chiefly
Byzantine and Turkish, these and the Franks having
built the citadel. From this crowning elevation there
is a grand outlook over the surrounding mountains
and plain, the latter extending broadly southward
toward the gulf and having in full view the distant
relics of Tiryns and Nauplia down by the sea.

About five miles away are the noted Cyclopean
remains of the ancient city, which Homer describes
as " Wall-girt Tiryns " and Pausanias said was as

42 THE MEDITERRANEAN

wonderful as the Egyptian pyramids. It is a low,
rocky eminence, nearly a thousand feet long and
about one-third as wide, rising in the highest part
not over sixty feet above the plain. Surrounding it
is a wall of huge blocks, that was originally sixty-
five feet high and twenty-five feet thick. This wall
enclosed the castle and outbuildings of the owner.
The origin is mythical. We are told that Pro3tos,
brother of King Akrisios of Argos, invited the
Cyclops from Asia Minor to build the walls, and
subsequently Perseus, that king's grandson, became
the ruler and occupied the castle. Alkmene was the
granddaughter of Perseus, and the legend makes
Tiryns the birthplace of Hercules, who was the
son of Zeus and Alkmene. The jealous Argives
destroyed Tiryns, B. C. 483, carrying off the in-
habitants to add to the population of Argos, and
then threw down the walls, the massive blocks having
since lain about in confusion. Dr. Schliemann, in
1884—85, made extensive excavations of the castle,
and thus brought into view the remains of a structure
believed to belong to the Homeric epoch, with towers
and gateways, and spacious courts surrounded by
dwelling apartments. This remarkable place has a
history that is almost entirely mythical.

Down by the sea, about three miles off, projects
a bold rock known as Itsh-Kaleh, which was joined
to the higher fastness of Palamidi on the shore, and
between them, and around their bases, is the port of

Gallery at Tiryns.

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 43

Argolis, Nauplia. Tradition says there came here in
the dim past Nauplies, the " seaman," and his sons,
Nausimedon, the " shipmaster," and CEax, the
" steersman," who founded the settlement. With
them was Palamedes, who first used masts and sails
and was said to have established the first lighthouse.
The place gradually became the haven of the
Argolis plain, but Argos ultimately captured and
controlled it. The port fell into decay for several
centuries, until the Franks and Venetians came, fol-
lowed by the Turks, and these races built the im-
pregnable fortress on the towering Palamidi, making
Nauplia the most strongly fortified maritime city
of Hellas. The Greeks captured it from the Turks,
by a surprise, in November, 1822, and it became the
first capital of the independent Grecian republic,
whose president, John Kapodistrias, was assas-
sinated in October, 1831, as he was entering the
Church of St. Spiridion. In 1834, after the creation
of the Grecian kingdom, the capital was transferred
to Athens. The rock of Itsh-Kaleh was the ancient
Acropolis, and displays relics of the old time walls,
steps and other constructions. Palamidi, elevated
700 feet, has a long staircase leading up to its top,
constructed by the Venetians, and the old buildings
are now used as a prison, being given the names of
classic Greeks, such as Epaminondas, Leonidas and
Achilles. There is an admirable outlook from the
summit over the Argive plain and the sea.

44 THE MEDITERRANEAN

To the eastward of Argos is the Midea fortress, on
an elevation, its Cyclopean walls being attributed to
Perseus. On the foothills of Mount Euboea was
the Herseon, the sanctuary of Argolis, its buildings
occupying various terraces, having its walls on
the highest terrace supporting the temple, of which
there are now but scant remains. Below it are the
ruins of two colonnades. The original temple was
burnt B. C. 423, and was succeeded by an elaborate
Doric structure, surrounded by thirty-six columns
and approached on the eastern side by a colonnade.
There are remains of other structures, and most of
these ruins were disclosed by excavations of the
American School at Athens, in the later nineteenth
century. The legend tells us that here the Greek
heroes swore allegiances to Agamemnon when the
expedition started for the siege of Troy. It was
the Temple of Hera, and within was her image,
brought from Tiryns, and also a statue of the god-
dess. The sculptures that have been found rep-
resent the birth of Zeus and the victory at Troy.
It was here that Kleobis and Biton brought their
mother, a priestess of Hera, from Argos to the
temple, in a hurry, they taking the places of the
tardy horses in her chariot, and, overcome by the
exertion, they laid down for an eternal sleep.

A little farther northward, in a glen between two
mountains, and, as Homer said, " in the innermost
corner of Argos," is the famous city founded by

SPARTA AND ARGOLIS 45

Perseus, Mycense. He brought the Cyclops also
here to raise its massive walls, and Dr. Schliemann
and his successors directed the excavations that
disclosed these ruins to the world. At Mycenae
subsequently ruled the princes of the house of
Pelops, where his sons Atreus and Thyestes quar-
relled, and Agamemnon, the son ,of Atreus, had a
house which Homer calls " well built " and " abound-
ing in gold." When the hero returned from Troy
he was murdered here. The place had great renown
in the mythical times, but it was decaying when
history began. Some of its warriors fell at
Thermopylae. It was destroyed at the same time as
Tiryns, and its treasures taken to Argos in the
fifth century B. C. Since then the ruins have re-
mained practically as now. To the town a festal
road led from the Hera3on, and its termination is
shown by the ruins of a bridge in a ravine. There
are the usual Acropolis, and also a lower city, of
which the chief remains are subterranean chambers.
The principal one is known as the Treasury of
Atreus, or Tomb of Agamemnon, an apartment
fifty feet high and of about the same diameter,
constructed like a beehive, its walls being made of
thirty-three horizontal circular courses of stones,
gradually narrowing as they ascend. Off this
there is a smaller tomb-chamber. The entrance to
the beehive is by a walled passage nineteen feet
wide, leading for over one hundred feet into the

46 THE MEDITERRANEAN

hillside, the large doorway being surmounted by a
lintel, of which one of the stones is thirty feet long,
sixteen feet broad, and three feet thick, the esti-
mated weight being 113 tons. There are a half-
dozen vaulted tombs, but of less elaboration. The
Acropolis has, as the chief entrance to the citadel,
the famous " Gate of the Lions." This is in a
passage having a tower on the southern side and
approaching the northwestern angle of the citadel.
The doorway is about ten feet wide and as high,
the doorposts sloping slightly inward and sup-
porting a large lintel stone sixteen feet long and
having a triangular slab of brownish limestone. On
this slab is carved a relief representing two lions
reared on their hind legs, the forepaws resting on
the pedestal of a column. Originally their heads,
said to be made of metal, were looking toward those
who approached the gate, but these heads have dis-
appeared. Within is a terrace, formerly covered by
rubbish that Dr. Schliemann removed, disclosing six
tombs, in which were found the remains of seven-
teen persons, with much gold and ornaments. These
are called the " royal tombs," and are supposed,
from a reference made by Pausanias, to have been
the burial place of Agamemnon and his family.
The summit of the Acropolis rises over nine hundred
feet, and its fortifications were built as a triangle,
with the border falling off into deep ravines, on the
northern and southeastern sides. Here were found

Lion Gate, Mycenae.

E^jfcfe

THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH 47

remains of a palace and a temple erected to Athena.
The view from the summit covers the entire Argolis
plain, and extends southward to the distant sea.

THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH.

The outcropping foothills of various mountain
ridges bound the Argolis plain northward, and
about seven miles away the railroad crosses the
summit of the ridge at Nemea. Here in a secluded
forest valley was the Nemean Temple of Zeus, the
national sanctuary of the Peloponnesus. This
temple has had most of its columns thrown down
by repeated earthquakes, but three are still standing,
and in the neighborhood are held the biennial
Nemean games. Descending from the ridge, the
route goes northeastward to the Isthmus of Corinth.
At Athikia, near the town of Tenea on the railway,
was found the noted Apollo of Tenea, now in the
museum at Munich. The railway goes out to the
shore of the Corinthian Gulf at the little town of
Corinth, a modern Grecian settlement of about
5,000 people, founded in 1858, after the previous
city had been destroyed by an earthquake.

The Corinthian Gulf to the westward and the
Saronic Gulf to the eastward almost bisect Greece.
The Isthmus of Corinth, separating them and con-
necting the Peloponnesus with northern Greece, is
about four miles wide. A ship canal is constructed
through it, completed in 1893 at a cost of

48 THE MEDITERRANEAN

$12,000,000, and having 26 feet depth. It is a
convenience to the large commerce passing between
the Adriatic and the ^Egean and Black Seas, but is
only able to pass the smaller ships, and the canal
tolls barely pay expenses. This has always been
a trade route between the east and west, and the
ancients often talked of digging the canal, Nero
actually beginning the work, but abandoning it.
There was once a tramway on which little vessels
were transported across, and many remains exist of
the famous " Isthmian wall," built across the neck
of land for defensive purposes. The railroad from
Corinth to Athens crosses the canal on a high bridge.
At either end of the canal are small towns, the
western one, Poseidonia, being named for Poseidon,
the Grecian Neptune. The other town is Isthmia,
near which have been recently excavated ancient Isth-
mian sanctuaries. Here were Temples of Poseidon
and the Phrenician god Melkart, and there were insti-
tuted by Theseus, and celebrated every two years,
the Isthmian games, the Stadium, where they were
exhibited, being now partly excavated. It was at
this place that Alexander the Great was proclaimed
as the leader of all the Greeks, B. C. 336.

Corinth was one of the famous cities of classic
Greece, and its name has been given to that elaborate
order of architecture the Corinthian. The towering
eminence of Akro-Corinthe, southwest of the present
town, was the Acropolis of the ancient stronghold,

THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH 40

and a massive fortress, its summit elevated nearly
1,900 feet. On the slopes and to the northward
extended the city, to the shore of the gulf, a busy
commercial mart, having, with the fortress, a cir-
cuit of probably a dozen miles. Extensive excava-
tions have been made here, disclosing the interesting
remains of the past. Thus the ancient fountain, the
Peirene, has been exhumed, dating from the sixth
century B. C., and showing various improvements
of subsequent periods. There is a Temple to Apollo,
having seven huge monolithic columns at the south-
western corner that are still standing, with also a
part of the entablature. There are also scanty re-
mains of the theatre. The Akro-Corinthe hill has
elaborate fortifications, erected in the middle ages,
and covering a circuit of about one mile and a half,
and there are still preserved several old cannon from
the Venetian period. Lying on the summit are
some stone blocks said to have belonged to a
Temple of Aphrodite. Upon the slope of the hill
is the spring which supplied the Peirene fountain,
and, like other Grecian springs, it is given a mytho-
logical origin, the tale being that it gushed forth
at a stroke by the hoof of Pegasus. Another story is
that ^Esopus, the river god, at the founding of the
town bestowed it upon Sisyphos. The Phoenicians,
in their sailor wanderings, were early colonists
and brought here the worship of Melkart

and Astarte (Aphrodite). The Dorians came in
VOL. II— 4

50 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the ninth century B. C., expanding its trade,
and in the height of its prosperity Corinth
planted numerous colonies on the Mediterranean
shores, to control maritime routes, including Syra-
cuse and Corcyra. Timoleon was a Corinthian, and
in the fourth century B. C., after saving the life of
his brother Timophanes on the battlefield, when the
brother seized the Acropolis and tried to overthrow
the government Timoleon permitted him to be
slain for his perfidy. Diogenes lived in the suburb
of Kroneion, and was visited by Alexander the
Great. Corinth was prominent in the Achaean
League, and when the Romans came they laid it
waste and sold the people into slavery. Caesar, how-
ever, repeopled the place, and gave it fresh pros-
perity, so that it had again become the first com-
mercial city of Greece when St. Paul made his
visit, founding the Christian church, to which he
sent his two epistles. The great fortress was re-
nowned for many centuries, and especially in the
time of the Venetians and the Turks. Byron's
noted poem, the Siege of Corinth, describes its many
conflicts, and its capture by the Turks in 1Y15, they
holding it afterward until the Grecian independence.

Many a vanish'd year and age

And tempest's breath and battle's rage

Have swept o'er Corinth; yet she stands

A fortress formed to Freedom's hands.

The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock,

Have left untouch'd her hoary rock,

THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH 51

The keystone of a land, which still,
Though fall'n, looks proudly on that hill,
The landmark to the double tide
That purpling rolls on either side,
As if their waters chafed to meet,
Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.

But could the blood before her shed

Since first Timoleon's brother bled,

Or baffled Persia's despot fled,

Arise from out the earth which drank

The stream of slaughter as it sank,

That sanguine ocean would o'erflow

Her isthmus idly spread below:

Or could the bones of all the slain,

Who perished there, be piled again,

That rival pyramid would rise

More mountain-like through those clear skies

Than yon tower-capped Acropolis,

Which seems the very clouds to kiss.

From the summit of this renowned Acropolis there
is a view which has been celebrated from the
earliest times. Its isolated position gives the ol>
server a survey all around the horizon, with the
Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs and the isthmus
spread out like a map, and enclosed by the distant
mountains north and south. To the east and south-
east is the Saronic Gulf, with its islands, and at
the horizon the Attic peninsula, with Athens due
east, displaying its Acropolis and the Parthenon and
the white walls of the royal palace, thirty miles away.
To the south are the mountains that enclose the
Argolis plain, their eastern declivities falling off
abruptly to the Saronic Gulf. To the west are the

52 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Arcadian mountains, rising into the snow-capped
peak of Ziria, the ancient Kyllene, elevated 7,800
feet, and then falling off to the fruitful plain
of Sikyon, adjoining the placid and far westward
extending Corinthian Gulf, which is lost in the dis-
tance, at its narrow outlet, the Strait of Lepanto,
enclosed by the dim promontory which overlooks
Patras. To the northward, at one's feet, is the
town, with the isthmus and its canal and railroad
on the right hand and the harbor and gulf in front,
the background enclosed by the vast amphitheatre
of the mountains of northern Greece. Almost due
north rises the famous Helicon, the home of the
Muses, and farther to the northwest the more dis-
tant and higher mass of Parnassus, its snow-clad
summit having been Apollo's dwelling. Such is
the magnificent environment of the renowned Corin-
thian fortress, which has seen nearly thirty centuries
of history besides its earlier mythological career.

The land to the westward of Corinth, bordering the
Corinthian Gulf, is Achaia, or the " coast land,"
which had so much part in Grecian history, and,
nearer to the hill, is the fertile plain of Sikyon,
through which flows the stream named for the river
god ^Esopus. Here are the remains, near the stream,
of the theatre, stadium and aqueduct of ancient
Sikyon, the " cucumber town." Beyond rises the
peak of Chelmos, over 7,700 feet, and having ruins
of ancient Grecian cities all about it. Nearer the

THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH 53

gulf is the most important monastery of Greece,
the Megaspela?on, in a cave, vaulted in a cliff 3,000
feet above the sea. This monastery was established
in the fourth century by Simeon and Theodorus,
and the shepherdess St. Euphrosyne, but has dwindled
in importance in later history. It is fortified, and
the monks and their allies successfully defended it
against Ibrahim Pasha's Turks in 1827. The
tradition is that in the cave was found by
Euphrosyne a waxen image of the Virgin and Child,
ascribed to St. Luke, and still preserved in the con-
vent and held in great reverence. The lady also
called into existence the " Maiden's Spring," which
gushes forth below this " Convent of the Cave." A
most romantic gorge leads down from the convent,
through the valley of the Erasinos brook, to the
Kalavryta river, where a rack and pinion railway
winds through another picturesque ravine out to
the coast. Beyond this on the shore is ^Egina,
which was the port of Achaia and the place of the
deliberations of the Achaean League, which met in the
Homarian grove. It has a fair harbor and trade
in grapes and currants, the chief products of the
neighborhood. About twenty-five miles beyond is
Patras, and to the northeast is the narrow Strait
of Lepanto, not much over a mile wide, the outlet
to the sea. The outcropping ridges from higher
mountains enclose the strait, and on either hand
are the decaying forts built to guard the pass by

54: THE MEDITERRANEAN

the Venetians and called the " Little Dardanelles."
In the olden time these were known as Rhion and
Antirrhion, each having a temple dedicated to
Poseidon. Just within the strait, on the northern
shore, is the deeply recessed Bay of Naupactos, its
fortress, now the decadent town of Lepanto, having
for centuries controlled the gulf. In the middle
ages the Venetians held it, and in 1407 the Turks
unsuccessfully besieged it for four months, when
they withdrew, after a loss of thirty thousand men.
They got possession, however, at the close of that
century. The Corinthian Gulf is about seventy-five
miles long and broadens in places to sixteen miles.

One of the greatest naval contests of the world
was fought in 15 71 for the possession of this gulf.
The Turks had become invincible at sea, and the
great nations of Christendom united to curtail their
power. Spain, Venice, Genoa and the Pope, with
other allies, fitted out a grand armada, which sailed
from Messina, under command of the famous Don
John of Austria, the natural son of Emperor
Charles V, who was then 24 years old. There were
three hundred vessels in this fleet, most of them
" royal galleys," the best fighting ships of the day,
and manned by 80,000 sailors, oarsmen and troops.
At sunrise on Sunday, October 7, 1571, they ap-
proached the entrance to the gulf, and sighted the
Turkish fleet, which had come out to meet them. It
had 250 " royal galleys," with many smaller vessels,

THtf ISTHMUS OF CORINTH 55

and 120,000 men. The Christian fleet advanced,
with a front extending about three miles, and before
the battle began the handsome Don John, in a light!
galley, passed rapidly among the vessels encourag-
ing his people and saying : " You have come to
fight the battle of the Cross — to conquer or to die.
But whether you are to die or to conquer, do your
duty this day and you will secure a glorious im-
mortality." It was the Cross against the crescent
of the infidel. The action began about noon and
was desperately fought, continuing four hours and
resulting in the total defeat .and almost annihila-
tion of the Turks. Only one-sixth of their vessels
escaped, one hundred and thirty galleys were taken,
and eighty burnt or sunk. They lost 25,000 killed
and 5,000 prisoners, while over 12,000 Chris-
tian captives, who had been chained to the oars on
the Turkish galleys, were set free. Ali Pasha, the
Turkish commander, was among the slain. The
Christian loss was about 7,600. In this contest
Miguel Cervantes, who afterward wrote Don
Quixote, served as a Spanish soldier, and lost his
left hand. The defeat of the infidels created the
greatest sensation throughout the Christian world,
it being the most effective blow struck at the power
of the Turks, and from that time their prestige de-
clined. When told the extent of the victory, the
Pope is said to have shed tears, exclaiming " There
was a man sent from God and his name was John."

56 THE MEDITERRANEAN

PARNASSUS AND DELPHI.

The northern coast of the Corinthian Gulf, the
shore of Phokis and Lokris, is a succession of bays
and promontories, the outcropping of the more dis-
tant mountains, and behind it rises the elaborate
group of peaks making the famous Mount Parnas-
sus. At the southern end of a ridge, coming down
from the north, rises the highest summit, the Lykeri,
elevated 8,070 feet, while four other peaks are de-
tached in a semicircle, stretching east and west. It
was this summit of Parnassus, in the Grecian myth
of the deluge, which alone rose above the vast waste
of waters, and here one man and one woman found
refuge, Deucalion and Pyrrha, who were children
of the Titans. When the waters subsided they
went to the Delphic oracle, where the altar was
without fire and the sacred temple soiled by water-
weeds, and asked advice. " Go forth," was the
answer, " with your faces veiled and your robes un-
girt, and cast behind, as you go, the bones of your
mother." They marvelled at this, feeling that it
would be impious to strew their mother's bones along
the way, but, going out together and walking upon
the firm ground, Deucalion solved the riddle. Point-
ing to the ground he said, " Behold the Earth, our
mother! What should her bones be but the rocks
and pebbles that strew the path ? " Then they veiled
their faces and ungirt their robes, and, each gather-

PARNASSUS AND DELPHI 57

ing an armful of stones, flung them behind as they
walked. Every stone thrown by Deucalion became
a man and every one that Pyrrha threw became a
woman. Down from the mountain they went, with
all these new creatures, to repeople the drowned
Earth.

The view from the Lykeri summit is widespread,
excepting to the westward. One can gaze far across
the ^Egean sea eastward. The steep sides of the
sacred Mount Athos are to the northeast, the huge
mass of Mount Olympus to the northward, with the
lower summits of Ossa and Pelion alongside, and
the broad Helicon to the southeast. The view to
the west and northwest is circumscribed by the
higher ^Etolian summits of Yardousi and Kiona, the
highest mountains in the present Grecian kingdom,
Kiona rising 8,240 feet. Upon the abrupt eastern
slope of Parnassus, in a romantic situation, is the
Convent of Jerusalem, where the monks hospitably
entertain the traveller. At its southern base, in a
deep ravine, flows the ancient Pleistos, now the
Xeropotami, having high above its northern verge
the tall cliffs of the Phsedriadse, or the " shining
rocks." These two cliffs are separated by a narrow
chasm, through which, in wet seasons, a torrent
rushes to the river, pouring down from the mountain
above, which was the favorite abode of Apollo.
Under the shadow of the western cliff, and at about
1,900 feet elevation above the sea, was Delphi, the

58 THE MEDITERRANEAN

god's famous oracle. Extensive excavations have
been made of the ruins of the " sacred precinct " of
Delphi, largely under French auspices, the entire
village of Kastri, standing on the site, being removed.
We are told that the dragon Pytho lived in this
charming place, and that the impressive scenery,
strong currents of air blowing out of the mountain
gorges, and the ice-cold torrents pouring from its
many springs, with the evil fame of the dragon,
all inspired men with a mysterious awe. Apollo was
then born in the island of Delos, and, hearing of the
dragon, he came here five days after his birth and
with his far-reaching arrow darts slew it. The
mountain and its attractions so charmed him that
he brought here his priests and established his
home. To obtain these priests for his worship he
changed himself into a dolphin and sailed among the
Grecian islands, and hence came the original name
of Delphi. The temple was here from the earliest
times. The oracle established and the place became
the headquarters of the Grecian worshippers of
Apollo, and was the location of the Delphic
Amphictyony, who governed it, being the earliest con-
federation of Greek states. From the mythological
period the oracle was consulted on all important
affairs, and troops of pilgrims came to the shrine, at
first washing for purification in the Castalian spring,
coming out of the " shining rocks " to the eastward,
the belief being that the water gave inspiration.

PARNASSUS AND DELPHI 59

Ovid tells of this, and so do others of the ancient
writers :

To the pure precincts of Apollo's portal

Come pure in heart and touch the lustral wave:

One drop sufficeth for the sinless mortal;
All else, e'en ocean's billows, cannot lave.

The occupants of the neighboring Krisean plain
were in the habit of plundering the pilgrims, and it
resulted in a holy war, in 596 B. C., which drove
them out and incorporated their territory with the
sacred domain a few years later. The Amphictyony
met twice a year, and the Pythian games were in-
stituted, being held every fourth year to commemo-
rate this victory. The original temple was burnt,
548 B. C., and funds were subscribed throughout
Greece to rebuild it, the front being then constructed
of Parian marble, and magnificently decorated.
An earthquake, in the fourth century B. C., threw
this structure down, and it was again rebuilt.
Great wealth was accumulated at Delphi from the
gifts of the pilgrims, and this was tempting. The
army of Xerxes was sent to sack it, and, according
to the legend, was driven back in a panic by the
miraculous interference of Apollo. Again in the
third century B. C. Brennus and the Gauls planned
to plunder it, but they too were dispersed by a
miracle. The belief was that earthquakes, frequent
at Delphi, intervened in both cases. These events
and the patriotic predictions of the Delphic priests

60 THE MEDITERRANEAN

in various contests raised the reputation of the
oracle to a high place, and trophies were erected here
from the booty of various wars. There were re-
peated contests for its control, but the Amphictyony
remained in possession until the Roman era. Sulla,
who was besieging Athens, 86 B. C., seized its
treasures for the payment of his troops, and Nero
plundered it, carrying off five hundred statues, but
there were plenty left, for Pliny says that in his
time there were three thousand statues, and
Pausanias relates that the " sacred precinct " re-
sembled a vast museum. Hadrian restored the
oracle to its pristine vigor, and Delphi had great
prosperity, but with the growth of Christianity the
pagan worship declined, and Theodosius, in the fourth
century A. D., finally abolished it and ended the
wonderful career of the oracle.

A sacred enclosure, which has been almost com-
pletely excavated, contained the temple and other
buildings connected with the worship of Apollo.
Innumerable statues adorned the grounds, and there
were many " treasuries," small buildings containing
the votive offerings of various states and cities.
Near by rose a rough mass of rock, still existing,
which was the "stone of the sibyl," and west of it
the elaborate Stoa of the Athenians, which contained
vast riches. In the open air, before the temple,
stood the great altar of Apollo. Nothing now re-
mains of the temple but the foundations. It was

PARNASSUS AND DELPHI 61

surrounded by a colonnade, and measured about 190
by 75 feet. The pediments were adorned with
mythological sculptures. In the vestibule were in-
scribed the sayings of the " seven sages of Greece,"
among them being the mottoes, " know thyself " and
" moderation in all things." There was also a statue
of Homer, who, to the Greeks, was the incarnation of
wisdom. In the cella a fire was kept perpetually
burning on the hearth, and here was the Omphalos,
or " navel stone," with the shape of half an egg,
which marked the centre of the earth. Here met
the two eagles which Zeus had caused to fly from
the opposite ends of the earth. In the apartment
called the Adyton, which has entirely disappeared,
and was said to have been purposely destroyed, the
oracles were delivered. It was an underground
chamber, having a deep cleft in the earth known as
the " Chasm of the Oracle," from which issued a
peculiar narcotic vapor. Over this chasm was placed
the golden tripod upon which sat the Pythia, or
priestess of the oracle, when she delivered its revela-
tions in sounds which none but the initiated priests
could understand. In the earliest times the Pythia
was a young girl, but afterward only women of fifty
years were selected for the office. They had to be
natives of Delphi, and absolutely chaste. Preparing
herself by chewing the leaves of the laurel, the
Pythia sat upon the tripod, amid the narcotic vapor,
and, inspired by Apollo, as was believed, and probably

62 THE MEDITERRANEAN

affected by the gas she was breathing, fell into a
convulsive ecstasy, uttering confused groans and
sounds, with disconnected words, that were care-
fully noted by the attendant priests, and told to the
anxious inquirers, in the form of metrical verses,
as revelations from the god. The oracle was noted
for ambiguity, and this passed not only for great
wisdom, but was also calculated to preserve the
priests' reputation in doubtful cases. An extensive
theatre occupies the northwestern portion of the
sacred precinct, while outside is a spacious Stadium.
Many relics have been gathered in the Delphi
Museum.

FAMOUS GRECIAN PLACES.

To the westward of Parnassus its foothills fall
off to the bay of Salona, extending far up into the
northern shore of the Corinthian Gulf and to the
romantic intervale coming down to the sea from the
northward. Here are Salona and its little port of
Itea by the shore, the landing place for Delphi. To
the northward is Doris, and through it and Lokris
various roads cross the mountainous peninsula,
farther northward, to Malis, around the head of the
Melic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Lamia, and the
wide plain of the Spercheios River, flowing into its
head. One of these roads comes out of the mountain
fastness and down toward the river valley through
the famous Pass of Thermopylae. This region, in

FAMOUS GRECIAN PLACES 63

the prehistoric period, was said by Homer to have
been the home of Achilles and his Myrmidons, but
its chief fame comes from the immortal defence of
the pass made by Leonidas, King of Sparta, and his
band of heroes, 480 B. C. This pass was then
almost the only defile leading from Thessaly through
the mountain rampart protecting the central and
southern Grecian states. Two hot springs, their
sulphurous waters being over 120°, gave the pass its
name, the literal meaning being the " hot gate."
They rise at the foot of Mount (Eta, their waters
flowing out to the Spercheios, and the pass was then
a narrow defile between the mountain and an
inaccessible morass forming the edge of the Melic
Gulf. During the twenty-five centuries that have
passed since the heroic battle the river and its
tributaries have filled up the head of the gulf, so
that now, instead of the easily closed defile, about
sixty feet wide between the precipice and the sea,
the pass has lost its strategic value, and is replaced
by a broad, flat, and partly marshy plain, the gulf
having been filled up and the waters receded to
the eastward. In the days of Leonidas there was
a road only wide enough for a single wheel track,
which formed the western gate of the pass, and about
a mile eastward Mount (Eta again approached the
gulf in a similar manner, the passage there form-
ing the eastern gate. The route between the two
gates was broader, and many years previously a

64 THE MEDITERRANEAN

wall had been built near the western gate to pre-
vent incursions by the Thessalians, this wall being
in ruins when the Spartans came.

Xerxes and his Persian host had marched through
Thessaly southward, the Greeks having abandoned
every line of defence till they reached Thermopylae.
Leonidas had 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, with
about 3,000 more from other states. The Persians
encamped in the valley, expecting the Greeks to
again retreat, and waited five days before attacking.
Then, for two days, the battle raged upon the coast
plain, every advance being repulsed with great
slaughter. Xerxes saw this method was unavailing
and determined to turn the pass. Ephialtes, a traitor
Malian, guided a flanking party. Leonidas, find-
ing retreat cut off, and hemmed in on both sides
by overwhelming numbers, fought with desperation,
ultimately withdrawing to a small plateau above the
springs, where the Greeks fell one by one, under the
arrows of the Persians, until all were killed. Upon
this round-topped plateau, at the western gate of
the pass, the scene of the last deadly struggle, there
was placed a lion, in memory of Leonidas, and the
famous Grecian inscription :

" Stranger, tell the Spartans that we are lying here
in obedience to their commands."

There was the further inscription:

" On this spot four thousand Peloponnesians
Fought against more than three millions."

FAMOUS GRECIAN PLACES 65

Other famous battles have been fought at this
pass. The Greeks, B. C. 279, successfully defended
it for months against Brennus and his army of
Gauls, who eventually turned it, though the Greeks
escaped to their ships. Antiochus of Syria, B. C.
191, defended it against the Roman invasion, and
again it was turned, only Antiochus and 500 of his
men escaping slaughter.

To the eastward of Parnassus are the ruins of the
Panopeus Acropolis. Homer gave this place the
honor of being the home of Epeios, who made the
wooden horse of Troy, and here Apollo thrashed
Phoebus, the wild leader of the Phlegyse. To the
southward, in a charming situation, with Parnas-
sus to the northwest and Helicon farther south-
ward, is the medieval citadel of Livadia. Here was
the oracle of Trophonios, which* was in vogue for
several centuries before the Christian era. Along-
side flows the Herkyna, where the inquirer, con-
sulting the oracle, had to bathe, and there still exist
the two springs of Lethe and Mnemosyne, where he
drank forgetfulness of the past out of the waters
of Lethe and, from the other, memory for the
revelation of the oracle. Then the priests took him
into a vaulted cave in the hill, where he was put
into communication with the divinity, being drawn
through a narrow crevice, and, on emerging, the
priests placed him on the " Throne of ITnemosyne,"

interpreting what he had seen and heard. A
VOL. II— 5

66 THE MEDITERRANEAN

reservoir, in the castle, is said to have been this
sacred cave. Farther on we approach the summits
of the Helicon group, the highest, Palseovouna,
rising 5,740 feet. Here is the hill of Askra, where
the poet Hesiod was born in the eighth century B.C.,
and in the midst of the Helicon group the romantic
Valley of the Muses stretches southwestward. This
was the home of the nine Grecian Muses, who
migrated hither from Mount Olympus, they having
originated in Thrace. Among their apostles was
Orpheus, and they were worshipped here during sev-
eral centuries, until the Roman period, when the
advent of Christianity ended it. There were many
altars and statues, the latter having been taken by
Constantino to Constantinople, where they were
destroyed by a fire, in the fifth century A. D. On
the slope of Eastern Helicon's highest summit still
flows the famous spring of Hippokrene, sacred to
the Muses, which is said to have first gushed forth
when Pegasus, the " wondrous winged steed with
mane of gold," who had grown from the blood of
the Medusa when she was slain by Perseus, struck
his hoof into the rock and leaped up to Heaven.
There he still is, in the constellation which displays
the " Great Square of Pegasus," enclosing thousands
of stars. This noted fountain is now enclosed like
a well ; and the poet sings of it :

When wearily you scale the height of Helicon's steep mountain,
How sweet the flowing nectar of Hippokrene's fountain!

FAMOUS ORECIAN PLACES 67

Steep also is the poet's path; but whosoe'er attaineth
At last the crowning summit the Muse's guerdon gaineth!

The scant ruins of Thespise — a low wall and the
substructures of some temples — are to the south-
ward, the city that had seven hundred of its warriors
slain with Leonidas. Xerxes came here and burnt
it. The place was repeatedly rebuilt and destroyed,
but it had ceased to exist in the middle ages.
Near by was Leuktra, which has entirely disappeared,
the great battle that gave Thebes control of Greece
having been fought here, B. C. 371. A little way to
the southeast are the remains of Plateea, the " town
of the plateau," where the battle took place, B. C.
479, the year after Thermopylae, which finally drove
the Persians from Grecian soil, the Greeks being then
commanded by the Spartan king Pausanias, and the
solemn festival of the Eleutheria, celebrated every
four years, having been instituted in memory of the
victory. The city was subsequently destroyed in
the various Peloponnesian wars, and ultimately sank
into insignificance. There are interesting remains,
and the historic battlefield can be traced on the banks
and intervale of the little river Asopos, which is
crossed on the road leading northeast to ancient
Thebes.

Thivai, the modern Thebes, is a quiet little rural
settlement, with about five thousand people, on the
hill of the Kadmeia, which was the Acropolis of the
ancient city. From its brow the towers built by

68 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the Franks rise as its landmarks, seen from afar, and
to the westward it has a good outlook upon the Heli-
con and Parnassus. The Kadmeia is elevated over
seven hundred feet, and it can readily be seen how
the ancient city, surrounding this impregnable fort-
ress, became the capital of Bceotia and at one time
the most powerful municipality in Greece, especially
when the forces of " seven-gated Thebes " were led
by the renowned Epaminondas. Its origin is
mythical, and is attributed to the hero Cadmus, son
of Agenor, King of Phoenicia, who came here and
introduced the working of metals and also the six-
teen simple letters of the Greek alphabet. Cadmus
was the brother of Europa, who had been borne off
by Jupiter, and the legend is that he left Phoenicia
to search for her and came to consult the oracle at
Delphi. The sibyl advised him to follow a heifer
which would meet him. Cadmus found the heifer
near by, and she led him into Bceotia, where she
ascended the hill that he called the Kadmeia and
laid down on the summit. Cadmus determined to
make here a settlement, and this hill became the
citadel of Thebes. He sent some of his companions
to draw water from a well which was sacred to Mars,
but it was guarded by a dragon that slew the in-
truders. Cadmus killed the dragon, and was then
directed by Minerva to sow the monster's teeth, which
he did, and a host of armed men immediately sprang
from the ground, and were attacking Cadmus when

FAMOUS GRECIAN PLACES 69

he threw a stone among them, a promiscuous fight
ensuing that did not cease until all were slain but
five. These survivors became tractable, assisted
Cadmus in building the new city, and from them
descended its greatest families. He was honored
always as the founder and patron of Thebes, and in
recompense for his perils the gods gave him for a
wife Harmonia, the daughter of Mars and Venus.
Finally Cadmus and Harmonia were changed into
serpents and translated to Elysium, the home of the
blessed.

Thus the origin of Thebes, from Phoenicia, shows
its oriental beginning, and similarly does the legend
of the Theban sphynx, this fabulous monster being
evidently an idea borrowed by the Grecian mythol-
ogy from Egypt. This sphynx was described as
having the body and claws of a lion, with the wings
of an eagle, the head and breast of a woman and the
tail of a serpent. To avenge the death of the
dragon she was ravaging Thebes and devouring
those who could not solve a riddle she proposed to
whomever she met. The Thebans offered their
crown to anyone who could solve the riddle, and
(Edipus solved it. The riddle was : " A being with
four feet in the morning, has two feet at noon, and
three feet in the evening; and only one voice; but
its feet vary, and where it has most, it is weakest."
(Edipus answered that the being was man, who in
infancy crawls upon all fours, in manhood walks

YO THE MEDITERRANEAN

erect upon two feet, and in old age supports himself
by a staff. The enraged sphynx, her riddle solved
and her power gone, thereupon destroyed herself, and
CEdipus gained the crown.

Thebes ear]y extended its sovereignty over the
Bo3otian towns, and became powerful in Greece, at
first allying with Sparta, but later with Athens.
Under Epaminondas the Thebans won the victory at
Leuktra, and then Sparta's power declined, but after
his death the Macedonians controlled Thebes, and
Alexander the Great destroyed the town, killing
6,000 and carrying 30,000 into captivity. Subse-
quently the city dwindled, but in the middle ages had
flourishing manufactures, which led the Normans to
plunder it. The Franks built a large castle on the
Acropolis, of which the only remains are the far-view-
ing towers. It degenerated under the Turks into a
rural village, suffered severely from earthquakes, but
is now reviving.

There are ample remnants of ancient Thebes.
Excavations have disclosed the town wall, showing
that the city had a circuit of eight to ten miles, and
there are indications of the location of the seven
gates. The Plakiotissa brook was the old time Dirke,
its head stream coming from a spring which gushed
forth from the spot where Dirke was killed by the
bull to which the sons of Antippe had tied her for
the ill treatment of their mother. Another stream,
from the southwest slope of the Kadmeia, reinforces

FAMOUS GRECIAN PLACES 71

it, and comes from the springs of Ares, an adjacent
cave having been the lair of the dragon slain by
Cadmus. There also are ruins of the aqueduct that
brought water from the Kithseron mountain to the
Kadmeia.

Thebes is on the Attic peninsula, along which a
railway runs northeastward to Athens. About fif-
teen miles to the eastward are the ruins of Tanagra,
where extensive excavations have disclosed the re-
mains of the town and the Acropolis. It was here,
B. C. 455, that occurred the first battle between the
Athenians and the Spartans, the latter being vic-
torious. A few miles to the northward, on the coast
at Aulis, in the narrow channel protected by the
long and mountainous island of Euboia, the vast
Greek fleet was assembled for the attack upon Troy.
Here is a ruined chapel of St. Nicholas, where have
been traced some remains of the Temple of Diana,
in which Agamemnon was about to sacrifice his
daughter Iphigenia when prevented. Near Tanagra,
to the eastward, is Staniates, where was fought the
Battle of Delion, B. C. 424, in which Thebes was
victorious over Athens. It is said that Socrates,
Alcibiades and Xenophon were all engaged in this
combat, that Socrates saved the life of Xenophon,
and himself was rescued by Alcibiades. The route
goes southward among the hills, crosses the Attic
plain, joins the railway coming eastward from Cor-
inth, and enters Athens. The Kephisos River, crossed

72 THE MEDITERRANEAN

just before reaching the city, is the chief stream of
the Attic plain, and is the only one that does not go
dry in summer.

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL.

Who that beheld that sun upon thee set,
Fair Athens! could thine evening face forget?

Milton tells us, in Paradise Regained, of " Athens,
the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence."
We reverently greet its noble Parthenon-crowned
Acropolis as we approach the famous city. Cecrops
is said to have reigned on the plain of Attica in
mythological times, and to have built its earliest cita-
del, the Kekropia. Theseus came later, as the actual
founder of Athens, which was named for Athena
(Minerva), its patron divinity. A range of hills,
rising from the Attic plain, goes through the city
from east to west, the highest being the Lycabettos,
rising 910 feet, which is separated by a broad de-
pression from the precipitous rock of the Acropolis,
elevated 500 feet, and the Areopagus, at its western
verge, the Hill of Mars, elevated 375 feet. The city
is built upon and around these latter hills, and covers
a large surface, while about five miles westward, on
the Saronic Gulf is its port, the Piraeus. Since the
establishment of the seat of government of the mod-
ern Grecian kingdom at Athens it has had much
prosperity, and the population has grown to about
130,000. It is, however, the ancient, rather than

The Acropolis, Athens.

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 73

the modern Athens, which the visitor seeks. In the
view of the famous city the Acropolis is the most
prominent object, a noble mass of limestone rock
rising precipitously, and having its flat top covered
with the ruins of white marble temples. There i9
nowhere else found, in so small a space, such beau-
tiful remains of the highest perfection of Grecian
classic art. The mythical Pelasgians are tradition-
ally said to have levelled the summit, increased the
steep faces of the rock on three sides, fortified the
western approach, and built a wall around it. From
prehistoric times the Acropolis has been the natural
centre of all settlements on the Attic plain. It is
still approached by the splendid entrance temple and
colonnade, on the western side, the Propyl^a, begun
437 B. C., with its wide marble steps, five entrance
gateways, and range of statues between the columned
walls. This " brilliant jewel on the front of the
conspicuous rocky coronet of the Athenian Acropo-
lis " rivalled the Parthenon in Grecian admiration,
and is in partial preservation. Within the entrance,
and behind the spreading wings, were on the northern
side the famous chamber of the Pinakotheka, or
Painted Hall, designed for votive paintings, and on
the southern side, standing on a massive stone bas-
tion, the Temple of Nike Apteros, or the Wingless
Victory. This latter has been partially recon-
structed, and it originally enclosed a statue of the
goddess. There were also sanctuaries dedicated to

74 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Apollo and Pan, the latter erected by the Athenians
in gratitude to the god for aiding them in the battle
of Marathon. It was here that Euripedes located
the scene in Ion where the three daughters of
Cecrops dance to Pan's music from the pipe.

The Propylaea was fortified by the Franks and
the Turks, the former erecting the " Tower of the
Franks " above the southern wing, which tower was
removed in 1875. Extensive Turkish batteries de-
fending it were also taken away by the Greeks.
From the bastion, on the western verge of the Tem-
ple of Nike Apteros there is a superb view beyond
the town and harbor of the Piraeus and the wide
spreading isle of Salamis, across the Saronic Gulf,
with the far-away dome of Akro-Corinthe and its
mountain background in the distance. It was on
this rocky elevation that aged King JEgeus sat to
watch for the return of his son Theseus from Crete.
The hero unhappily forgot to hoist the white sails
that were to announce his conquest of the Minotaur,
and the old king, seeing in the far-off sea the black
sails of the returning ship, thought his son was slain,
and threw himself headlong from the rock. Byron
describes this noble view in the Corsair:

Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run,

Along Morea's hills the setting sun;

Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright,

But one unclouded blaze of living light!

O'er the hush'd deep the yellow beam he throws

Gilds the green wave, that trembles as it glows.

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 75

On old -<Egina's rock and Idra's isle
The god of gladness sheds his parting smile;
O'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine,
Though there his altars are no more divine.
Descending fast the mountain shadows kiss
The glorious gulf, unconquered Salamis!
Their azure arches through the long expanse
More deeply purpled meet his mellowing glance,
And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,
Mark his gay course and own the hues of heaven;
Till, doubly shaded from the land and deep,
Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep.

Passing through the Propylsea, the plateau of the
Acropolis is entered, with its splendid array of ruins,
the Parthenon on the right and the Erechtheion on
the left, the ground everywhere being strewn with
fragments and remains of classic marbles. Here,
originally, were many statues, shrines, reliefs and
votive offerings, and the culminating point is
crowned by the most perfect monument of Grecian
art existing, the Parthenon, towering above all
others, the great Temple of Minerva, which has been
described as " the finest edifice on the finest site in
the world." It was begun in the sixth century B. C.,
destroyed by the Persians, and rebuilt in marble by
Pericles, between 447 and 438 B. C., when it was
opened for public worship, and the statue of Athena
erected in the Cella. This masterpiece of Phidias,
known as the " chryselephantine " Minerva, was 39^
feet high, with drapery of solid gold and flesh of
ivory, the goddess holding in her outstretched hand
an image of Victory (Kike). The statue is only a

76 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tradition, however, for long ago its costly mate-
rials, valued at $800,000, were carried off by plun-
dering hordes. The platform on which the temple
stands is 228 by 101 feet, and from it rise the forty-
six Doric columns surrounding and making the outer
framework. These columns are about six feet in
diameter, narrowing to about five feet at the top,
and thirty-five feet high, eight being on each end
and the others on the sides of the temple. They
swell slightly in the middle, taper toward the top,
and are gracefully fluted. Around the temple ran
a frieze of ornamental sculpture, much of which,
known as the " Elgin marbles," was taken away by
the Earl of Elgin, and is now in the British Museum.
Other portions are in the Acropolis Museum, while
the western sculptures remain in position, and there
are a few on the southern side. This frieze, 524
feet in length, represents a procession giving in de-
tail the progress and glory of Athens, in the service
of the goddess, and is regarded as the best work of
Phidias.

The festival of the Panathensea was celebrated
every four years, and culminated in the procession
from the city to the Parthenon, where the richly
embroidered saffron peplos, or robe, was presented to
the goddess in an elaborate ceremonial. Opened by
the P-anathensean festival of 438 B. C., and then
consecrated to Minerva, the Parthenon was kept
sacred to her. for over six centuries. About the fifth

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 77

century A. D. it became the Christian church of
St. Mary, and when the Turks came, in the fifteenth
century, they made it a mosque, building a minaret
at the southwestern corner. In 1687 the Venetians
captured the town, and the Turks, retreating to the
Acropolis, stored their powder in the Parthenon.
The Venetians bombarded it, and on September 26th
a bomb ignited the powder and the building was
blown up, 300 Turks losing their lives in the ex-
plosion and a capitulation following. The Turks
regained possession the next year, and built a smaller
mosque on the ruins. At the beginning of the nine-
teenth century Lord Elgin was British ambassador
to Constantinople, and procured a Turkish firman
authorizing the removal of " a few blocks of stone
with inscriptions and figures." Putting several hun-
dred laborers at work, he removed the greater part
of the frieze, pediments and metopes, taking them
to England, at a cost of $250,000, the British gov-
ernment, in 1816, buying them for $175,000 for the
British Museum, making its most valuable possession.
This removal gave a shock to Lord Byron, who de-
nounced it in his poem, the Curse of Minerva, writ-
ten in March, 1811, but afterward suppressed, and
not published until 1828, after Byron's death.
There has been no complete restoration of the Par-
thenon, only a few repairs, and patching of three
broken columns, so that the splendid ruin, as we now
see it, is the survival of the explosion of 1687.

78 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Erechtheion, to the northward, almost at the
edge of the plateau, was a smaller building, on a
lower level. This temple was founded by Erech-
theus, the adopted son of the goddess Athena, on the
site where she victoriously contended with Poseidon
for the possession of Athens. In the ancient shrine
was the " gnarled olive tree," which the goddess
made to grow, and also the impression made by
Poseidon's trident, in producing the wonder-work-
ing salt-water spring. The Persians burnt the tem-
ple in the fifth century B. C., destroying the olive
tree, but it put forth a new shoot, a few feet long,
two days afterward. The temple was rebuilt later,
and was used for a mausoleum. The sepulchre of
Cecrops occupied the crypt, and here were the shrines
of Athena and other deities. It contained the sacred
olive-wood statue of Athena, that fell from Heaven,
and before which burnt the golden lamp of Calli-
machus, with its everlasting wick of asbestos, kept
ignited day and night and trimmed only once a
year. This temple also became a Christian church,
and subsequently was a Turkish harem. It has
been partially restored, although one of the Ionic
columns was carried off by Lord Elgin. The eastern
and northern porticos were each upheld by six Ionic
columns, and the southern portico of the Caryatides
was supported by six figures of maidens standing
on a parapet. One of these is now reproduced in
terra cotta, Lord Elgin having removed the original.

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 79

There was no western portico, but instead a lateral
vestibule on each side, forming a sort of transept.
This temple was about 66 feet long and 37 feet wide,
standing on a basement of three steps. Adjoining
it to the southward was the palace of Erechtheus,
and here was built an ancient temple to Athena, the
Hekatompedon, of which recent excavations have
disclosed the foundation walls. At the intersection
of the northern and eastern walls of the Acropolis
a Belvedere is constructed, giving a splendid view
over modern Athens, while near the southeastern
corner is a museum where many of the sculptured
remains are exhibited. It is noteworthy that, in
their original glory, all the temples of the Acropolis,
as well as those of the Asty, as the lower town was
called, were gorgeously tinted, the artistic chiselling
being brilliantly displayed by delicate and strong
coloring. The statues and sculptures were all painted
in the resemblance of living human beauty of the
best type. The elaborate draperies were bedecked
with burnished gold. In the Elgin marbles of the
Parthenon frieze are seen the holes where the metal
weapons were fastened and the golden chain bridles
were hung. Costly jewelry also decorated some of
the statues. Untold wealth- was lavished on these
ornaments, but long ago the invading hordes had
stolen it all.

The lower hill of the Areopagus is west of the
Acropolis, separated by a depression. Here sat the

80 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ancient court of eminent citizens, who held supreme
jurisdiction in capital cases, and in a fissure, at the
northeastern base, was the shrine of the Furies, the
" avenging deities of blood." This Hill of Mars is
said to have been the spot where St. Paul, 54 A. D.,
delivered the address to the men of Athens, described
in The Acts of the Apostles, and near it are the ruins
of a Christian church that was dedicated to Dio-
nysius the Areopagite, his first convert in Athens.
Around the western base of this hill ran the old
road connecting the Acropolis with the public mar-
ketplace, the " Hill of the Market," the great as-
sembly ground of ancient Athens, surrounded by
important structures. Here is the Theseum, or
Temple of Theseus, the most complete specimen
now remaining of a Greek temple, which has sur-
vived for more than twenty centuries. It is 104 by
41 feet, surrounded by a Doric colonnade of six
columns at each end and thirteen on each side. They
are nineteen feet high and more slender than those
of the Parthenon. A Doric frieze, partially sculp-
tured, surrounds the building. There are reliefs,
much weather-worn, depicting the labors of Hercules
and the achievements of Theseus. This temple was
used as a Christian church, and during the Turkish
rule it became a burial place for Englishmen.

The lower town presents other interesting remains.
Beyond the base of the Acropolis stands the Arch of
Hadrian, erected by the Romans, an archway twenty

Mars' Hill, Athens.

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 81

feet wide, in a gateway sixty feet high and forty-
four feet wide. It was built to divide the old
Grecian city from the newer Roman settlement, its
inscriptions reciting on the one side — " This is
Athens, the old city of Theseus," and on the other,
" This is. the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus."
Through this archway passes the road from the
Acropolis to the Olympieion, toward the southeast,
the Temple of Jupiter Olympus, constructed during
Hadrian's reign, of which remain only fifteen mas-
sive Corinthian columns and a few fragments above
them. This temple, dedicated in the second cen-
tury, originally had one hundred and four columns,
in double rows on the sides and triple rows on the
ends, each being about fifty-six feet high. It was
one of the largest Grecian temples existing, 354 by
134 feet, containing a huge statue of Jupiter.
Deeply recessed below the southern front of this ruin
flows the little brook Ilissos, and here the water-
courses from the upper town originally found their
outlet, the legend being that this was the place where
the last waters of the deluge disappeared, so that
the foundation of the earliest structure on the site
was attributed to the gratitude of Deucalion, the
Grecian ]SToah and the progenitor of the new race
of men. The narrow Ilissos dries up in summer,
but sometimes is a torrent. Its banks are given as
the scene of the abduction of Oristhyia, daughter of

King Erechtheus, who, while she was gathering
VOL. II— 6

82 THE MEDITERRANEAN

flowers, so captivated rude Boreas that he carried
her off to his far northern home. Westward of the
Arch of Hadrian, and nearer the Acropolis, is the
monument of Lysikrates, a dilapidated but beautiful
little circular temple erected to this hero, who was
the leader when the boy-chorus of the tribe of Aka-
mantis won the prize. It was built in the fourth
century B. C., and is said to be the oldest structure
existing of the Corinthian order. It was long used
as the library of a convent. This cylinder, sur-
rounded by Corinthian columns, is thirty-four feet
high and nine feet in diameter. The Theatre of
Dionysos, where the most famous Greek plays were
exhibited, was at the southern base of the Acropolis,
and partly constructed on the slope of the hill, where,
in a semicircle of 150 feet radius, the rows of seats
were provided, with the orchestra and stage extend-
ing on the lower ground in front. Dionysos was
the inventor of the wine-press, and the theatre was
named in his honor, as it was built in the precinct
of Bacchus, whose cult was associated with stage
performances. This theatre was covered with rub-
bish until 1862, when some traces were discovered,
and it has since been excavated.

The Athenian Stadium is westward from the Tem-
ple of Jupiter, laid out in a natural hollow, and
was originated by Lycurgus, who built it B. C. 330,
and about the same time completed the theatre. The
Stadium was subsequently constructed in white Pen-

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL 83

telic marble, about 140 A. D., by Herodes Atticus,
a Roman, who spent a large fortune in adorning
Athens. This Stadium is 676 feet long and 109
feet broad, and it has accommodations for fifty thou-
sand spectators. The actual length of the course is
584 feet. In 1870 excavations were begun, and it
has been completely restored by the munificence of
M. Averoff, a wealthy Greek merchant of Alexan-
dria. Here were revived the ancient Olympian
games in 1896, the scene being transferred from
Olympia to Athens. In 1906 the latest festival be-
gan on April 22 and continued ten days, during
which the city was overflowing with visitors. The
opening was attended by King Edward and Queen
Alexandra of England and King George and Queen
Olga of Greece. The programme was very compre-
hensive, and was participated in by competitors, not
only of Greece, but of all nations, these participants
marching around the Stadium on the opening day
in a procession numbering nearly nine hundred, in-
cluding various lady gymnasts. The great event,
the running race from Marathon to Athens, twenty-
six miles, was won by Sherring, a Canadian. The
Americans won most prizes, scoring 74, England be-
ing second with 39, and Greece third with 30. The
Marathon race was witnessed by 150,000 spectators
along the route, and the victor received as a prize
a beautiful statue of Minerva. The Grecian cham-
pion Koutoulakis was the popular favorite, and had

84 THE MEDITERRANEAN

taken the holy sacrament, with an oath that he would
win or die, but though unsuccessful he happily sur-
vived the defeat. The ceremony closed on May 2,
with a grand dinner given by King George to the
officials, judges and victors, four hundred persons at-
tending.

Athens, as we see it now, is mainly a growth of
the last half of the nineteenth century. When it
became the capital of the modern Kingdom of Hellas,
in 1834, it had few houses and but small popula-
tion. Its handsome public buildings are of modern
creation, and it covers a surface which was but
sparsely occupied in the ancient days. The Place
de la Constitution, northeast from the Acropolis, is
its centre, and upon this fronts the royal palace, a
large building of Pentelic marble and limestone,
erected in 1834, adorned by a Doric colonnade, and
having spacious gardens stretching southward toward
the vale of the Ilissos. To the northwest of the
Place de la Constitution are the Parliament House
and other government buildings. Xot far away is
Dr. Schliemann's " Palace of Troy," long his home,
and still occupied by his family. The Academy of
Sciences and the university have spacious buildings
to the northward, the latter attended by 2,500
students. The new library, adjacent, has 250,000
volumes and many valuable manuscripts. The hill
of Lycabettos forms a noble background to these
stately buildings. Farther northward are the Poly-

THE GRECIAN CAPITAL S5

technic School and the National Archaeological Mu-
seum, the latter containing a splendid collection of
antiquities. Upon the top of Lycabettos is to be
erected a noble monument to the heroes who fell in
the revolution which delivered Greece from Turkish
domination, the hill being made a tree-planted park
with a railroad encircling it and ascending to the
summit. This work is expected to be completed and
the monument dedicated at the centenary of Grecian
independence in 1921.

Some distance to the northwest is the flat-topped
hill of Kolonos, where Sophocles had his olive-en-
vironed home, whence he looked out upon a lovely
view of the Acropolis and Athens. To the south-
ward of this hill was the famous olive grove of
Academia, named after its owner Akademos, dedi-
cated to Athena, and the favorite resort of Plato and
other philosophers. From this grove, thus early de-
voted to science and philosophy, came the modern
term of academy. Of this noted district Sophocles
gave description :

Friend, in our land of victor steeds thou art come
To this Heaven fostered haunt, Earth's fairest home,

Gleaming Kolonos, where the nightingale
In cool, green covert warbleth ever clear,
True to the deep-flushed ivy and the dear
Divine, impenetrable shade,
From wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made,

Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale
Wood-roving Bacchus there, with mazy round,
And his nymph muses range the unoffended ground.

86 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The history of Athens, opening in mythical times,
is substantially the history of Greece. Cecrops was
the first king, then Erechtheus, Pandian, ^Egeus and
Theseus, under whose guidance, as narrated by
Thucydides, Athens emerged into the historic era,
and to mark his reign, which brought all the tribes
of Attica under the Athenian rule, the festival of the
Panathenaea was instituted. After the kings, in the
eleventh century B. C. the rulers were Archons, and
they were followed by other governing powers.
Draco made his code of laws, 621 B. C. and Solon be-
came Archon in 594. Peisistratos followed, and
then his sons Hippias and Hipparchos. The latter
was assassinated, and the former expelled, by Spar-
tan aid four years later, 510 B. C. Then came the
war with Darius of Persia, and the dawn of the
Athenian navy, resulting in the Persian invasion,
and their defeat at Marathon, 490 B. C., and the
second Persian invasion by Xerxes, and their capture
of Athens, but defeat in the naval victory at Salamis
480 B. C., and subsequent battle at Platsea 479 B.
C. Themistocles and Aristides were then the lead-
ers, the PiraBus was made the harbor, and the Long
Walls built between it and the city. Afterward
came the golden age of Athens under Pericles, with
the construction of the Parthenon, the Propylsea and
the Erechtheion. Pericles died by the plague in
429 B. C., the Peloponnesian war was carried on
for many years, and Athens declined. Thucydides,

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 87

Alcibiades and Demosthenes were among the noted
Athenians of this time, also Euripides, Aristophanes,
Hippocrates, Herodotus, Sophocles and Socrates,
who died in 399 B. C., while Plato lived here later,
dying 347 B. C. Macedonia subsequently ruled
Athens, under Philip and Alexander, and this era
was followed by the domination of Rome, when
Athens, in the second century of our era, under Ha-
drian and his successors, had a new period of pros-
perity. Then came the overrunning of Greece by the
barbarians and the Gothic rule, while subsequently
Athens was subject to Byzantium. Other invaders
followed, and ultimately the Turks captured Athens,
in 1456, holding it until the Grecian war of inde-
pendence, when the Greeks captured the Acropolis
in 1821, but were besieged again by the Turks, and
capitulated after a heroic resistance in June, 1827.
It was not until the intervention of the European
powers in 1833 that the Turks finally evacuated
this famous citadel. Athens has since enjoyed peace
as the Grecian capital, and has had constantly grow-
ing prosperity.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS.

The people of Athens take their sea bathing at the
villages on the Bay of Phaleron, to the southeastward,
adjoining their port of the Piraeus. The latter town
is of modern growth, its present harbor, quays and
buildings having been entirely constructed since

88 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Athens became the capital. There is a large trade
constantly growing, and the port has a population
of about 80,000. The Persian wars created the
Athenian navy, and this made them think of a port
on the nearest coast, the Bay of Phaleron, where
there is a good roadstead. Themistocles began the
ancient harbor, and founded the navy, using for the
latter the revenues of the silver mines of Laurion,
while Pericles completed the ancient port, of which
the Athenians were very proud. Its fortifications
and ship houses were destroyed by Sulla, in the first
century B. C., and it slumbered in neglect and deso-
lation until revived in 1835. There have been dis-
closed many remains of the old buildings, walls, and
ship houses, and also the circular tomb of Themisto-
cles, down by the shore. This statesman is said by
Plutarch to have originated a saying, which ever
since, in all races and all languages, under various
guises, has been a universal proverb. He said that
his son, who knew how to wheedle his mother, was
the most powerful man in Greece, " for," said he,
" the Athenians rule the Hellenes, I rule the Athe-
nians, your mother rules me, and you rule your
mother."

'Off this coast, and rising into rugged hills, spreads
the spacious island of Salamis, originally settled by
the Phosnicians, and deriving its name from Shalam,
meaning " peace " or " rest." Homer describes it
as the home of Ajax, and Solon got possession for

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 89

Athens in the sixth century B. C. It is separated
from the mainland by the Strait of Salamis, encir-
cling the jutting shore to the northward of the
Piraeus, and here was the scene of the great naval
battle, in which the Greeks, 480 B. C., defeated the
Persians. On the mainland shore is a hill, still
called the " Throne of Xerxes," which is said to be
the " rocky brow " where he sat in his silver-footed
chair to watch the battle. The Greeks defeated the
Persians, destroyed three hundred of their triremes,
and the invasion by Xerxes, thus checked, was re-
pelled in the subsequent year at Plataea. Aristides,
who had been recalled from banishment, was a leader
in this victory, and ^Eschylus, who took part in it,
told its story in a tragedy, performed eight years
later in the Athenian Theatre of Dionysos. Upon
Salamis is now the naval arsenal, and it is the chief
station of the Greek navy. In October, 1909, this
arsenal was seized by Lieutenant Tibaldos and the
crews of his torpedo flotilla, of eight small vessels,
who had mutinied because of dissatisfaction with the
government at Athens for abandoning the Grecian
claim on Crete, at the behest of the European powers.
They only held the arsenal a few hours, however.
Troops and a battery sent from Athens, drove them
out, one of the torpedo boats was sunk, and Tibaldos
with the others sailed away. He disappeared, and
the boats soon surrendered. Four British warships
were sent to the Piraeus in consequence of this revolt,

90 THE MEDITERRANEAN

which for a time looked portentous, but their inter-
vention was not needed.

The Strait of Salamis broadens out northward
into the spacious and almost circular Bay of Eleusis,
and on its farther shore is the little village that was
the home of ^Eschylus and the seat of the famous
" Eleusinian Mysteries," that flourished for more
than a thousand years, until the fourth century of
our era. These, which are believed to have repro-
duced a worship that antedated the Grecian mythol-
ogy, were based on devotion to the goddess Demeter
(Ceres). Her daughter Proserpine having been car-
ried off by Pluto, Demeter, according to the legend,
sought Proserpine's recovery, and in the course of
her search arrived in the guise of an old woman at
Eleusis, being well received by Keleos, the king. As
she was the goddess of husbandry, she repaid the
kindness by teaching his son Triptolemos the art of
agriculture, and gave him seed-corn to plant. The
memory of the gift, which symbolized the develop-
ment of mankind from nomadic life to the duties of
a well-ordered community, was celebrated in two
Eleusinian festivals, in the spring and autumn, rep-
resenting the growth and the decay of nature. An-
other part of the legend was that Proserpine was
afterward allowed to spend two-thirds of the year
with her mother, and during the remaining time she
dwelt in the subterranean home of Pluto, like the
seed-corn in the ground. Only the Mysti, or initi-

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 91

ated, were allowed to participate in the festivals, a
feature of which was the solemn torchlight proces-
sion, leaving Athens on the evening of the fifth day,
that marched along the " Sacred Way " to Eleusis.
There are traces still remaining of this " Sacred
Way " on the route from the capital, particularly at
a mountain pass, where niches for statues and in-
scriptions have been laid bare in bordering cliffs.
Cicero, who was one of the Mysti, has written that
the mysteries taught " not only to live happily, but
to die with a fairer hope." There is shown at
Eleusis the fountain where Homer says the Eleusin-
ian women danced to music. The " Great Temple
of the Mysteries " has been fully disclosed, and its
ruins show elaborate construction. It was destroyed
in the Persian invasions, restored by the Romans,
and again destroyed by the Goths in the fourth cen-
tury A. D. It stood on a plateau, above which rises
the Acropolis of Eleusis, where was the old time cita-
del. This famous place is now represented only by
a small village and some remnants of the moles form-
ing the ancient harbor.

Up in the mountains toward the northeast is the
noted fortress of Phyle, at 2,250 feet elevation,
which commanded the passes between Attica and
Boeotia. The massive walls and several towers sur-
vive, enclosing a small oval plateau, and the principal
entrance was so contrived that the approaching foe,
on the narrow road, was at the mercy of the garrison,

92 THE MEDITERRANEAN

who could assail his right flank. From the walls
there is a splendid view southward over Attica and
the sea, but higher mountains enclose the northern
side, and thus commanded the fortress. Sparta con-
quered Athens in 404 B. C., razed the fortifications,
and put in power the aristocratic " Thirty Tyrants,"
who expelled the gallant Thrasybulus from the city,
and the hero retired to Phyle with seventy comrades,
resisted the tyrants, and collected a strong band of
followers, who sought an alliance with the democracy
of the Piraeus. In this way Thrasybulus was en-
abled to control the Piraeus, and being thus rein-
forced, he drove the " Thirty Tyrants " from Athens
in 403 B. C., becoming master of the Attic plain.

To the eastward of Athens is the long and almost
treeless ridge of Mount Hymettos, beautiful but al-
most barren, rising nearly 3,400 feet, and falling off
abruptly, on its far eastern slope, to the lower ter-
races nearer the sea. Its bluish-gray marble was
used by the ancients for their buildings, and one of
the old quarries is yet visible. They also enjoyed the
famous " honey of Hymettos," which continued to be
used as a name, though most of the honey thus desig-
nated, and highly prized in Athens, comes from other
places in Attica. The roads leading eastward from
Athens go around the northern base of Hymettos,
and through a depression between it and the noted
Pentelikon Mountain, which is farther to the north-
east, its summit elevated 3,640 feet and having

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 93

on its southwestern slope the richest monastic es-
tablishment of Attica, the Penteli convent. On
this slope are the quarries, yet worked, which yielded
the valuable Pentelic marble, used by the Greeks
both for buildings and sculptures. There remain
the drums of a few columns, anciently taken out,
and still awaiting transportation, and traces of
the inclined planes are seen upon which the
blocks, in the early times, were brought down the
mountain slope. This marble is fine grained and
colored a brilliant -white with a yellowish tinge,
due to iron, which gives in time a rich golden hue.
A signal tower is now on the summit where stood
formerly a statue of Athena. There is a grand
view all around the horizon, with the plain and
Bay of Marathon at the base of the mountain, to
the eastward. This plain, where the great battle
was fought, was once covered by the sea, but as Byron
suggests, now looks out upon it, and is splendidly en-
vironed by the semicircle of mountains, upon the
slopes of which the whole ancient Grecian population
might have been seated as in a theatre to watch the
fight. It was at Pikermi, in the foothills here, on
the road to Marathon, that the last important out-
break of brigandage in Greece occurred, in April,
1870, an Italian and three Englishmen being shot
by the bandits.

The mountains look on Marathon
And Marathon looks on the sea ;

94 THE MEDITERRANEAN

And musing there an hour alone

I dreamed, that Greece might still be free.

Thus sang Byron in Don Juan, and the visitor
recognizes the fidelity of his description. Coming
out of the defile, it is seen that the semicircular Bay
of Marathon is bordered by an extensive plain and
marsh on its northwestern and northern shores, and
from these ascend two intervales into the encircling
hills. In the middle of the flat plain, and about a
half mile from the sea, rises the " Soros," an isolated
knoll, about six hundred feet in circumference and
forty feet high, overgrown with brushwood. In Sep-
tember, 490 B. C., the Persians had landed on the
shores of the bay, and were preparing to march south-
ward to Athens. The Athenians, 10,000 strong, un-
der Miltiades, were in the northwestern intervale
upon their flank. For several days the Persians
hesitated to march, fearing the Athenian attack,
when Miltiades began the battle by a stratagem, hav-
ing a weak Grecian centre and two strong wings.
Herodotus tells how the centre boldly charged the
enemy, were defeated and pursued, and then how the
wings, the Athenians on the one side and the Pla-
tseans on the other, enfolded the pursuing Persians
and defeated them. The defeat was made a rout;
the fleeing Persians were chased into the marsh and
to their ships. The Persian loss was 6,400, while
192 Athenians were slain and buried on the field,
over their graves being raised the mound of the

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 95

" Soros." A similar mound raised over the graves
of the Platseans has entirely disappeared.

Southward from Salamis, in the Saronic Gulf, is
the Island of ^Egina, presenting on all sides but the
westward abrupt cliffs to the sea. The ancient port
of ^Egina is on this western coast, which slopes gently
to the water, and it is now a village of about five
thousand people, mostly fishermen and husbandmen,
its best known industry being diving for sponges
during spring and summer. The summit of the
island, the Oros, now called Mount St. Elias, is ele-
vated 1,742 feet, and a conspicuous object on a lower
but isolated promontory on its side is the group of
columns remaining of the Temple of Aphaea, nearer
the sea. Around the Oros, which is the most promi-
nent elevation in the Saronic Gulf, the clouds always
gather before a rain. We are told that King JEakos,
son of Zeus, the legendary ancestor of the people of
this island, besought his father, after a long drought,
to send rain, and when the prayer was granted, the
clouds came around the summit, and have always
since done so. In gratitude, an altar was erected to
Zeus on the mountain, and relics of the old walls re-
main, there being a magnificent view. Recent exca-
vations have disclosed the remains of a city on the
summit, and various bronzes and sculptured figures
have been found. ^Eakos, on account of his wise
government, was made one of the judges in the
nether world. The Dorians were the first historic

96 THE MEDITERRANEAN

settlers, and in the sixth century B. C., the island,
through its extensive commerce, had attained great
prosperity, its merchants then being the richest
among the Greeks, and its coinage, stamped with a
tortoise, widely circulating. Exciting the jealousy
of Athens, it was captured, after a long siege, B. C.
456, and later the people were expelled. ^Egina
never regained prosperity. There are remains of the
moles that formed the ancient harbor, but the Temple
of Apha?a is the chief ruin. It was a Grecian temple
of the fifth century B. C., of which about twenty col-
umns are still standing. There are sculptures taken
from this temple in the museums of Munich and
Athens, and various fragments are in the museum
of ^Egina.

The peninsula of Attica stretches into the sea,
terminating in Cape Colonna. A considerable part
of the southern surface of the peninsula is the min-
ing district of Laurion, where the early Greeks got
their silver, the output being quite large, and, as al-
ready stated, the Athenians, who possessed these
mines, were persuaded by Themistocles to devote the
profits to founding their navy, but by the beginning
of the Christian era the silver mining had fallen into
decline. In 1860, however, it was revived, and the
mines have since been worked, not for silver, but
chiefly for lead, cadmium and manganese. There are
over two thousand shafts and galleries, many appear-
ing now in the same condition as they were left by the

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ATHENS 9Y

ancient workers. The shafts are about six feet
square, and some are sunk four hundred feet, there
being niches in the walls for lamps and water-ves-
sels. The ancient workmen were slaves, who car-
ried the rock out of the pits on their backs.

The termination of the Attica peninsula, Cape
Colonna, the original Cape Sunion, stands as a huge
watch-tower at the extremity of Greece, a bold prom-
ontory elevated nearly two hundred feet, with its
sides and front descending almost perpendicularly
to the sea. This massive rock is chronicled by
Homer as sacred to Poseidon, the sea god, and his
temple on the summit is surrounded by a fortified
wall and towers, a structure built in the fifth century
B. C., and referred to by Demosthenes in one of his
speeches. The temple was constructed like the
Theseion of Athens, but smaller, measuring about
100 by 44 feet, and is believed to have been built in
the time of Pericles. There are eleven columns yet
standing, with a part of the eastern end, but all the
remainder is in ruins. The columns gradually dis-
integrate and fall, for at the beginning of the nine-
teenth century fourteen were standing, and nineteen
a century earlier. Near by have been excavated the
foundation walls of a Temple of Athena. There is
a noble outlook from Sunion over the sea with its
many islands, the Oros of ^Egina being off to the
westward, and the numerous Cyclades east and south,

with distant Milos far south, and keen observers
VOL. II— 7

98 THE MEDITERRANEAN

think that sometimes the dim contour of the higher
Cretan mountains can be traced over a hundred
miles away. The striking view of this temple-
crowned promontory, on the approach from the
yEgean sea, discerned from a great distance over the
waters, was a source of inspiration to Lord Byron,
who speaks of it in his notes to Childe Harold. In
Canto II he wrote the following invocation to the
Hellenic memory :

Fair Greece! sad relic of departed worth!

Immortal, though no more; though fallen, great!
Who now shall lead thy scattered children forth,

And long accustom'd bondage uncreate?

Not such thy sons who whilom did await,
The hopeless warriors of a willing doom,

In bleak Thermopylae's sepulchral strait —
Oh ! who that gallant spirit shall resume,
Leap from Eurotas' banks, and call thee from the tomb?

THE /EGEAN SEA

THE AEGEAN SEA

Crete — Zeus — The Minotaur — The Labyrinth — Candia — Knos-
sos — Gortyn — Canea — Kydonia — The Archipelago — The Cy-
clades — The Sporades — Milos — Delos — Apollo and Diana —
Megali Delos — Mykonos — Kea — Kythnos — Seriphos — Siph-
nos — Kimolos — Pholegandros — Sikinos — Nios — Santorin —
Kaymeni Islands — Phira — Ana phi — Amorgos — Paros — Anti-
paros — Naxos — Syra — Hermonpolis — Tenos — Andros — Scar-
penti — Cos — Kalymnos — Leros — Patmos — St. John — Samoa
— Chora — Nicaria — Scio — Mytilene — Eubcea — The Euripus —
Chalkis — Eretria — Karystos — Xerochori — Cape Artemision —
Kavo Stavro — The Pegasaean Gulf — Thessaly — Volo — Mount
Pelion — Kynoskephalae — Pharsalos — Trikkala — Kalabaka —
The Peneios River — Larissa — Vale of Tempe — Mount Ossa
— Mount Olympus — Macedonia — Thrace — Salonika — Mount
Athos — 'Thasos — Philippi — Samothrace — Lemnos — The Dar-
danelles— Chersonesus — 'Gallipoli — Anatolia — Province of
Asia — Nicaea1 — Hissarlik — Tenedos — Siege of Troy — The
Levant — Mysia — Pergamos — Lydia — Sardis — Croesus —
Thyatira — Ala-Shehr — Philadelphia — Manissa — Smyrna —
Skala Nova — Ephesus — St. Paul — Temple of Diana — The
Seven Sleepers — The Maeander — Caria — Laodicea — Colossae —
Aidin — Miletus — Halicarnassus — The! Mausoleum — Cnidus —
Lycia — Adalia — Pamphylia — Mount Taurus — Pisidia — Isau-
ria — Cilicia — The Cydnus — Tarsus — Adana — Cyprus — Pyg-
malion and Galatea — Isle of Rhodes — The Colossus —
Knights of St. John — Byron's Invocation to the JSgean.

101

102 THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE ISLAND OF CBETE.

King ^Egeus of Athens is believed to have named
the -^Egean Sea. From Crete, on its southern verge,
this famous sea stretches more than four hundred
miles northward, between Greece and Turkey, on the
one side, and Asia Minor, on the other. For much
of the distance it has a width of two hundred miles,
and islands are scattered all through it. Crete, on its
southern boundary, is one of the most ancient islands
of the Mediterranean, as it is among the largest, and
its origin is full of myths. The earliest navigators
settled it, and the population grew apace, for it was
the meeting place of many races of men, long before
the Hellenic world, as we know it in history, began
to exist. Here came peoples from Asia and from
the Nile valley, who coalesced, making a most popu-
lous community, whence migrations were made in
diverging courses throughout the Hellenic empire.
Homer sang of " the hundred cities of Crete." The
Pelasgi and the Eteckretes were there long before the
Phoenicians, coming from Asia Minor and bringing
with them the worship of Rhea (Cybele) and her
son the great Zeus (Jupiter), with also the name of
Mount Ida, whence they seem to have migrated.
Cybele was the daughter of Ccelus (Heaven) and
Ga (Earth), the wife of Cronus (Satan), and
mother of the highest gods and goddesses. In the
Grecian mythology we are told that Satan insisted

THE ISLAND OF CRETE 103

on devouring his children, so Cybele, by the advice
of her parents, went to Lyctos in Crete, where she
gave birth to her son Zeus. When the infant was
born various pious youth of that place gathered
around him with clashing arms and loud instruments
of music, drowning the child's cries, while the shrewd
mother went away, to present her husband a stone
wrapped up like a child. The stratagem was success-
ful, Satan swallowing the stone. The infant was
concealed in a cave on Mount Ida, where he was
nursed by the nymphs, and when he grew to man-
hood he seized the government of the heavens and
the earth, dethroning his father, and made his home
on Mount Olympus in Thessaly, just north of the
modern Grecian boundary. Minos was the son of
Jupiter and Europa and the father of Ariadne and
Deucalian, the Grecian Noah. To obtain possession
of the throne of Crete he declared that his father and
the gods granted him everything for which he prayed.
He therefore implored that a bull might come forth
from the sea, promising to sacrifice it to Neptune, the
sea god. The bull appeared, and he obtained the
kingdom, but he so greatly admired its beauty that to
save it he sacrificed another bull, which made Nep-
tune wroth. Neptune therefore sent the Minotaur
to Crete, a creature with the body of a man and the
head of a bull. Minos acquired much power by sea,
conquering all the JEgean islands, and made war
upon Athens, compelling it to send to Crete a tribute

104 THE MEDITERRANEAN

periodically of seven youths and seven maidens, to be
devoured by the Minotaur. After death Minos be-
came one of the judges in Hades.

As a home for the Minotaur, Minos got his faith-
ful subjects Dasdalus, the inventor (who taught the
people how to make sails for their boats), and his
son Icarus to build the wonderful maze or labyrinth.
This was a structure of so many winding and com-
plex passages and rooms that no one entering could
find his way out, not even Daedalus or Icarus. When
they realized that they had been caught in their own
snare, they made wings fastened with wax to their
shoulders, and thus flew up and out of their prison.
Icarus went so high that the heat of the sun melted
off his wings, and he tumbled into the sea below,
which in memory has been called the Icarian Sea,
while Daedalus, flying lower, escaped in safety to
Sicily. The Athenians chafed at the sacrifice of
their youths and maidens sent to be fed to the Mino-
taur, and the young prince Theseus asked to go with
them, hoping to slay the monster. When the em-
bassy reached Crete, they were taken to King Minos
in the palace, and Ariadne, the king's daughter, when
she saw Theseus, fell in love with him, and thought
she would save him. Next morning she sought
Theseus, and giving him a ball of string told him to
fasten one end at the entrance to the labyrinth and
unwind it as he went in, and also gave him a sword
with which to attack the Minotaur. Theseus entered

THE ISLAND OF CRETE 105

with the Athenians, and going from one passage to
another gradually unwound the string. The guards
led the party through the maze, in and out, until sure
that they were confused, and then left them. The-
seus comforted his companions, and soon they heard
the monster coming, and with a loud bellowing the
Minotaur rushed at the young hero. Too quick for
the monster, with a stroke of the sharp sword he
cut off one of his legs, and he fell headlong. In a
second he ran the sword through the creature's heart,
and the Minotaur fell dead. They remained until
night, and then Theseus led the party safely out of the
labyrinth, by following the long string to the en-
trance. He took them home in triumph, but failure
to hoist the white sails, on approaching Athens, so
shocked his father, King ^Egeus, that he plunged
from the rock to death, and Theseus became the king.
Crete, which in the Italian is Candia, stretches
for about one hundred and sixty miles east and west,
and has a breadth of thirty-six miles in the widest
portion, narrowing elsewhere to barely seven miles.
A limestone mountain chain traverses it, the summit
of Mount Theodora, at the westward, rising 7,900
feet, Mount Christos, to the eastward, 7,200 feet, and
the highest summit, Mount Stavros near the centre,
8,065 feet, this being the ancient Mount Ida. These
mountains are carved by many deep valleys and ra-
vines, running out to the sea, and the larger part of
the surface is a barren waste, off which the rainfall

106 THE MEDITERRANEAN

dashes in wild torrents. There is an arable plain of
Messara, at the base of Mount Ida, covering about
four hundred square miles, and some other fertile
valleys and small garden spots elsewhere, but the
island barely grows enough grain for home consump-
tion, while olive oil, currants and wines are the chief
exports, and cattle are raised. It was natural for all
the maritime races of the Mediterranean to avail
of the harbors of Crete, but, even in antiquity, most
of these had to be artificially deepened and protected
by moles. Crete, owing to its configuration, early
became the home of various and hostile tribes in
many separate towns, and was usually in a turmoil,
which still goes on, breaking out periodically and
requiring the intervention of the European powers
for settlement. It anciently had two capitals,
Knossos, near the northern coast, and Gortyn, on the
fertile Messara plain. After the numerous Hellenic
vicissitudes the Romans conquered the island, and
it ultimately went to their eastern empire. The
Saracens held it awhile, and in the thirteenth cen-
tury it fell to the Venetians, who ruled it four hun-
dred years, when the Turks conquered it in the later
seventeenth century. There have been frequent re-
bellions against the Turks, the most active insurgents
being the Sphakiotes, who live in the mountain fast-
nesses of the western island. Rebellions in the nine-
teenth century have obtained for the Cretans a
partial independence, and in 1897 they had another

THE ISLAND OF CRETE 107

outbreak, proclaiming their adhesion to Greece, and
producing serious conflicts.

The result of this was an intervention by the Eu-
ropean powers, and the appointment of Prince
George, the second son of the King of Greece, as
High Commissioner, with Turkish suzerainty, under
protection of the powers. But great discontent con-
tinued, however, and in 1905 and again in 1908,
there were rebellions requiring interference. The
Cretans declared for union with Greece, and went so
far as to elect delegates to the Grecian Parliament,
when they learned that the powers intended to with-
draw their force of protecting troops from the island,
replacing them by warships. This was done in July,
1909, whereupon a great ferment arose and Turkey
prepared a fleet to send to the island. Diplomatic
exchanges followed, but for a time war between Tur-
key and Greece seemed imminent. The withdrawal
of the troops occurred July 27, whereupon the Greek
flag was run up on the fortress and barracks at Canea.
The powers protested vigorously, fearing a war that
might involve all Europe. The Provisional Admin-
istrative Committee at Canea, who controlled the
government, were stubborn, as they had taken oaths
of allegiance to the King of Greece, but the powers
were potential at Athens, and the arrangement was
finally made that the flag should come down. At
sunrise, August 18, under direction of the consuls
at Canea, a force of sailors landed from the interna-

108 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tional fleet, shot at the flagstaff, breaking it, and thus
brought down the flag. It was rehoisted next day,
but soon taken down bj the Cretan government offi-
cials, who gave pledge to the consuls that it would
not be again raised, and this was confirmed by a
satisfactory note from Athens. Thus was closed
an incident which for a time threatened to embroil
all Europe. The island of Crete has about 300,000
population, largely Greek Christians, and occasion-
ally an earthquake shakes it.

A steamer from the Pirasus takes the visitor over
the sea to the harbor of Candia, the highest moun-
tains in Crete rising grandly across the southern hori-
zon on the approach. As at most ports in this part
of the world, a rowboat carries the passenger from
the steamer, and through the medieval fortified little
haven to the landing place, the forts being relics of
the Saracenic rule, and strengthened so well when the
Venetians held them that they withstood a three
years' siege before the Turks captured them in 1669.
This town was the ancient Herakleion, the seaport of
Knossos, and the modern Greeks have revived the
name. The public square is embellished \vith a foun-
tain dedicated to Admiral Morosini, its brave Ve-
netian defender, and enriched by four lions, a Ve-
netian sculptor's work. There is also a museum of
early Greek art, the exhibits being obtained from
Knossos and other very old towns.

far away are the ruins of Knossos, the capital

THE ISLAND OF CRETE 109

of King Minos, whose royal palace, tomb, sepulchral
chamber and adjacent places have been recently
excavated, mostly through the labors of Dr. Arthur
J. Evans, who has recovered most important relics
in sculpture, art works, pottery and other interesting
articles, besides restoring much of the ruined struc-
tures. Knossos survived until the downfall of Rome,
when it was largely destroyed. The palace, long
ago burnt, stood on a flat-topped hill, and covered a
large surface with its myriads of rooms and passages,
constructed around a central court ..measuring 196
by 95 feet. The decorations contain many repre-
sentations of double axes, paintings of bulls and
bulls' heads, with altars having bulls' horns, and
there is a vase shaped as a bull's head. These, with
the myriads of rooms and passages arranged in ir-
regular fashion, have caused the recent excavators
to adopt the theory that the famous labyrinth of the
Minotaur is probably identified with this place. It
is recalled that in the Lydian tongue the name for
the double axe is Idbrys. Passing westward from
the palace has been found a paved way, which Dr.
Evans calls " the oldest road in Europe." This
leads to another building, excavated in 1907-8, and
named the " Little Palace," its eastern front spread-
ing over 114 feet, and facing the other palace with
a fine peristyle and colonnade. Four separate stone
staircases led to apartments above, though in the gen-
eral ruin the upper portions had fallen down. This

110 THE MEDITERRANEAN

building, over eighty feet deep, is regarded as dating
from the seventeenth century B. C. according to
relics found in excavations. The double axe and
bull's head appear in the decoration, with altar horns,
and also papyrus and fish on vessels showing
Egyptian origin. Many fine bronzes, basins, ewers,
cauldrons, implements and weapons also were found,
with specimens of early Minoan pottery. These ex-
cavations continue, and are expected to throw fresh
light upon the days of Minos and the origin of the
Hellenic people^.

To the southeast of Knossos rises the massive
Stavros (Mount Ida), and upon its side, at more
than five thousand feet elevation, is the Grotto of
Zeus, where the god was nursed, its entrance facing
the rising sun. Here, upon one side, the base of
the cliff has been hewn into the form of a spacious
altar. The interior of the grotto is a high vaulted
chamber about one hundred feet in diameter, and hav-
ing a low interior passage of the same length. Explo-
rations have disclosed many votive offerings to the
infant Zeus, and much work in bronze and pottery.
Another cave, where Zeus is reputed to have lived,
is not far off, on the northern slope of Mount Lasithi.
Here an upper cave is connected by a long shaft with
a stalactite grotto, where ancient offerings were also
found, dating from the earliest Doric period, includ-
ing small bronze double axes.

Gortyn, the rival ancient capital, which in its later

THE ISLAND OF CRETE 111

career eclipsed Knossos, stood on the Messara plain,
near the southern slope of Mount Ida. Its Acropo-
lis, amphitheatre and other buildings have been dis-
covered, and the ruins show it to have been an ex-
tensive city. The chief structure was a temple dedi-
cated to Apollo. Nearer the southern coast are the
remains of Phsestos, another ancient city, with a
palace somewhat similar to and almost as large as
that of Knossos. A curious fact, illustrating the
calmness of the ancient philosopher in the midst of
dangerous natural phenomena, is related here of
Apollonius of Tyana. In the year 62 or 63 A. D.
he was on the coast near Phsestos, on a promontory
washed by the sea, where there was a renowned
sanctuary. He was conversing with a group of pil-
grims who had come to do honor to the sanctuary,
when suddenly there was an earthquake. The roar
of the thunder, records Philostratus, " did not pro-
ceed from the clouds, but came from the depths of
the sea, and the sea retired at least seven stadia."
The people feared that in the great tidal waves fol-
lowing its retreat the sea would engulf the sanctuary
and wash them all away. Apollonius, however, said :
" Be comforted : the sea has brought forth new land."
A few days afterward they heard that a new island
had appeared between Crete and Thera, to the north-
ward, and now known as Santorin.

Everywhere in the island of Crete are ruins of
very ancient places, and in several have been discov-

112 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ered relics of the stone age, antedating the Greeks.
The enthusiastic excavators, in fact, have made such
discoveries that they claim the ancient Minoan king-
dom was in reality a great empire controlling the
Mediterranean. Dr. Evans says the beginning of
the flint deposits found beneath the palace at Knossos
dates from at least 10,000 B. C., and from that time
onward the development of the Minoan people can be
traced continuously. Between the neolithic age and
the destruction of Knossos three great periods can be
distinguished, roughly contemporary with the three
periods of Egypt — the old Memphite kingdom, the
Theban middle kingdom, and the eighteenth dy-
nasty or Theban empire. These were the successive
eras of Minoan civilization; but that race was ulti-
mately overthrown, and the Phoenicians took their
place as the Mediterranean navigators. It is even
thought that the destruction of the fabled island of
Atlantis in reality was a story founded on the down-
fall of the great empire of Minos and worked into
mythical tales by the ingenious scribes who preceded
Plato, who first records it.

The present capital of Crete, and its largest city,
with about 25,000 population, Canea, is upon a
spacious bay on the northern coast of the western part
of the island. The low, whitewashed houses cluster
around the harbor, which is protected by a long mole.
There are a citadel and fortifications, built by the Ve-
netians, and there is the residence of Prince George,

THE ARCHIPELAGO 113

and the capitol, a handsome building of modern con-
struction. The immediate harbor opens on a bay
to the northward; but about four miles away, across
an isthmus, is another narrow and deep gulf, grad-
ually widening out eastward to the sea, the Bay of
Souda, which covers about nine square miles, and is
the best harbor on the Cretan coast. A broad penin-
sula, terminating in the Cape Kyamon of the ancients,
separates the two harbors. Here was Kydonia, the
most important town of ancient Crete, which, unlike
all the others, was built immediately on the shore,
and thus became a great trading port. Its materials
have been largely used in building Canea.

THE ARCHIPELAGO.

The many islands scattered over the ^Egean Sea
were the original " Archipelago," a name that has
since become by general adoption a generic title for
other groups of islands. These islands, and the en-
closing ^Egean shores, were the scene of much of the
ministry of St. John and the missionary work of St.
Paul. From the southern extremities of the long
protruding Grecian peninsulas there extend around
toward the southeast and east a series of semi-
circular submarine plateaus, toward the southwest-
ern coast of Asia Minor. These plateaus rise into
rows and clusters of islands, of varied and attractive
character. The ancients named the inner group the

Cyclades, meaning the " circle," because they encir-
VOL. II— 8

'114 THE MEDITERRANEAN

cled as a centre the sacred isle of Delos. The outer
clusters they called the Sporades, meaning the " scat-
tered," these surrounding the Cyclades and forming
separate groups known as the Northern, Western and
Eastern Sporades. There are in the Archipelago
twenty-four large islands and over two hundred
smaller ones, besides outlying rocks and reefs. Al-
most every locality in the JEgean Sea has its classic
and sacred associations. Islands were scattered lib-
erally along the marine highway of the ancient
Mediterranean nations, and in that wonderful era
they were renowned places, overflowing with hu-
man energy, and exuberantly fertile. Great art-
ists were born in or brought to them, producing
noble works. Science, letters and philosophy flour-
ished, and their people led in war, as well as
in art and commerce. Their fame continued
when they were dominated by Greece, and after-
ward by Rome, and their vitality did not decline
until the Byzantine empire fell, while several con-
tinued prosperous under the Venetian rule. Then
they gradually sank into obscurity and were almost
forgotten, but now, succeeding centuries of neglect,
a new era seems dawning in the revival of interest
taken in them by the modern influx of tourists.
There is even an effort promised to again make use
of the pure white Parian marble, which was the fa-
mous product, in ancient times, of Paros, and to some
extent of other islands.

THE ARCHIPELAGO 115

In the Cyclades the westernmost island is Milos,
having about five thousand people living upon a sur-
face of less than sixty square miles, this being the rim
of an ancient sunken volcano, of which the memory is
yet kept fresh by discharges of hot water and vapors
and the vivid coloring of the volcanic rocks. Into
the northwestern part the sea has breached an en-
trance to the crater, making one of the best harbors
of the Mediterranean. There is much fertile surface,
the plateau rising southwestward into the summit of
Mount St. Elias, elevated 2,535 feet. Milos exports
much sulphur, gypsum and china clay, and has me-
tallic ores, but these are not worked. There are ex-
tensive ruins of the ancient city of Melos, including
its Roman theatre, which has been excavated, the
sanctuary of Dionysos, a colonnade, walls and tombs,
while two hills, overlooking the site, were each sur-
mounted by an Acropolis. Down by the edge of the
sea, in a little bay, where there are a number of
tombs, was found by a peasant in 1820 the famous
armless statue of the Venus of Milo, now the great
treasure of the Louvre at Paris. He sold it to the
French Government for $1,200, and it is believed
to be the work of the Greek sculptor Alexandros in
the fourth century B. C.

The many craft sailing through the Archipelago of
the ^Egean, crossing the blue waters among the pic-
turesque islands, give the traveller charming views
of classic scenes. Probably the most noted of all,

11 G THE MEDITERRANEAN

though it is almost the smallest, is the sacred isle of
Delos. It is only about six miles in circumference,
and has but a little more than a square mile of sur-
face, being a rocky ridge three miles long, very nar-
row, and rising into the summit of Mount Kynthos,
370 feet high, from which there is a splendid view of
the encircling Cyclades, dotting the sea in all direc-
tions. The legend, no doubt originating in a volcanic
eruption, tells us that this rock rose from the sea at a
stroke of Neptune's trident, and went floating aim-
lessly about as driven by the winds and waves. The
nymph Latona, daughter of Ccenus and Phoebe, and
beloved by Jupiter, was persecuted by the jealous
Juno, and could find no rest, as all lands had been
put under a ban that harbored her. Finally she
sought refuge on this floating island, and Jupiter
had it moored to the bottom of the sea by adaman-
tine chains, the other islands being gathered as
guardians around it. Here, under a shady tree, and
in a nook of the desert rock, on the bank of the
Sacred Lake, Latona gave birth to the twins, Apollo
and Diana, who were called Delius and Delia, whence
came the island's name. In the mythical symbolism
this legend signified the primitive darkness whence
sprang Apollo, or the light. To them, and par-
ticularly to Apollo, the island became sacred, and
in accord with a vow of Latona a temple was erected
by a son of Cecrops at the foot of Mount Kynthos,
while later another temple was built on the summit

THE ARCHIPELAGO 117

to Jupiter and Minerva, of which there are still
some remains. It was said that Delos always was
protected by the gods, being unshaken by the earth-
quakes devastating the other Cyclades, and it was
enriched for many centuries by the gifts of various
nations. Delian festivals were held every four
years, the Athenians always sending embassies.
The oldest settlers were Phoenicians and lonians,
the island being a religious centre of the worship of
Apollo. Athens ruled it from the eighth century
IB. C., and during that and the Roman age it had
a flourishing commerce, but it was devastated and
lost its prosperity before the Christian era.

The island is chiefly interesting to archaeologists,
and there have been extensive excavations. Among
the latest " finds," in the summer of 1905, were
three leaden vases, full of old coins, the largest con-
taining three hundred 4-drachma pieces, made at
Athens under the Archons, most of them new
coinage. Delos has no inhabitants now but the
custodians and a few shepherds, and these leave in
the winter. The ancient town is at the base of the
mountain, and on its western verge is the sacred
harbor, now become very shallow from the silt de-
posits. On the high ridge just inland was the
sacred precinct and the Temple of Apollo. It was
approached by a road passing between two colon-
nades, the larger having an inscription indicating
its erection by Philip of Macedon. Immediately

118 THE MEDITERRANEAN

within were temples to Aphrodite, Hermes and
Dionysos, and a Propylse, of which the substructure
of three steps remains. On this were Doric
columns, the inscription dedicating it to Apollo by
the Athenians. Within ran the Festal Street to
the temple, and the base is here shown of a colossal
statue of Apollo, of which two large fragments lie
on the ground, and a hand is preserved in the
Mykonos Museum. There were also fragments of
two temples dedicated to Artemis and of several
treasure houses. A great deal of the destruction
here was done to secure materials for the medieval
fortifications built when the island was held by the
Knights of St. John of Rhodes. The great Tem-
ple of Apollo was a Doric construction, like the
Theseion at Athens, 86 by 44 feet, of which the
massive foundations remain and some fragments
of the columns, there having been thirteen on each
side. There are foundations of two other temples,
also used in the worship of Apollo, and evidently
of earlier construction. Near by stood the great
Horned Altar of Apollo, which was named from the
rains' horns affixed around it. This altar stood in
the structure called the " Hall of the Bulls," to the
eastward of the great temple, and there now remains
of the altar a sort of core of granite blocks. The
Hall, which got its name from the series of re-
cumbent bulls making the capitals of some of the
pilasters, measures 220 by 29 feet, and its granite

THE ARCHIPELAGO 119

and marble foundations are quite well preserved.
There is an extensive Agora, or market, of the
Roman period, beyond which is the oval Sacred
Lake, where Apollo is said to have been born.
Ascending the slope of Mount Kynthos is the
sacred path leading to the Grotto of Apollo, having
on the route the " Temple of the Foreign Gods,"
erected in the second century B. C., when the wor-
ship was introduced into Greece of the Egyptian
deities, including Serapis and Isis. This is in
ruins, a large portion of the materials having been
removed. Above are two terraces supported by
solid walls, and fronting the grotto, Avhich is the

most venerable of all the Delos sanctuaries. This

•

cleft in the rock is closed by a primitive wall and
doorway, but contains little of interest. The
sacred path goes farther upward to the temples on
the summit of Mount Kynthos. To the westward
of Delos, separated by a narrow channel, is the
larger island of Megali Delos, the burial place of
the Delians, and formerly called Eheneia. In the
fifth century B. C. Delos was " purified " and all
tombs removed, this Kheneia then becoming the
place of interment, and subsequently even births and
deaths in Delos were prohibited, the dying and the
pregnant being removed thither. The excavations
on the portion of the island facing Delos disclose
many tombs. To the northeast is Mykonos, the
ancient island of Chora, which is the port of call for

120 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Delos and has a museum with interesting Delian
antiquities.

The Cyclades are practically extensions of the
Grecian peninsula of Attica and the island of
Eubcea, stretching toward the southeast and having
Milos as a southwestern outlier. Off the extremity
of Attica is Kea, the ancient Keos, and of about
seventy square miles area, rising into the central
summit of St. Elias, elevated 1,865 feet. There
are upon it many old-time Grecian ruins, and here
was born the poet Simonides in the sixth century
B. C. A little way southward is Kythnos, having
a surface of about thirty square miles, now called
Thermia, from its warm springs. Seriphos, to the
south, Siphnos to the southeast, and Kimolos, south-
west, all now bear the same names as in antiquity,
display the lava floods of the early period, when they
were volcanoes, and contain iron deposits, like Kea
and Kythnos, while Milos is just beyond Kimolos,
this whole formation being volcanic. To the east-
ward of Milos stretches a series of smaller islands,
the rugged Pholegandros, which was the ancient
Polykandros, having next it Sikinos, where a temple
of Apollo is still preserved as a Christian church,
and Nios, the ancient los, its culminating summit
also called St. Elias, and rising 2,300 feet.

Southward from los is Thera, now called San-
torin, from its patron, St. Irene, this group of islands
covering about thirty-five square miles and, owing

THE ARCHIPELAGO 121

to its fertility, having about 15,000 population.
These, like the others, are parts of a volcano en-
vironing a crater which had an eruption about 2,000
B. C. that overwhelmed various ancient settlements,
the result being the enormous crater, around and
within which are the present islands, the subter-
ranean furnace having been working much of the
time since. Originally this crater enclosed a
spacious basin, but the rim is broken down on the
western side in two places, letting in the sea. There
have been frequent eruptions, and in the seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they produced
within this basin the cluster of Kaymeni Islands, a
new volcano arising in 1866 that was named after
Prince George of Greece, from which smoke and
fumes still issue. There are also numerous hot
springs and sulphurous gas vents elsewhere, attesting
the unruly disturbance still going on beneath.
Thera's chief eminence, also called St. Elias, is ele-
vated 1,910 feet, and the inner walls of the crater de-
scend to the sea in sheer cliffs, some of them thirteen
hundred feet high. Externally the slope is gradual,
and here the volcanic deposits have made great fer-
tility, particularly favoring the growth of the vine.
The approach to the crater entrance, by the steamer
coming from Greece, to the northwest, gives a most
remarkable view, in its supreme beauty of light and
shade, form and color, the gentle green outer slopes
of the crater gradually opening and disclosing the

122 THE MEDITERRANEAN

enormous rock-bound basin within, its almost per-
pendicular walls stratified in light and dark hues,
while perched on top of the entrance precipice is
the village of Apano Meria, surrounded by wind-
mills. Within is Phira, the modern capital, also
on a hill adjoining the basin, a village of about one
thousand people. When Thera was settled no one
knows, but the first dwellers in historic times were
the Pho3nicians. The ancient capital on the south-
ern slope of St. Elias, with a grand outlook over the
sea as far southward as Crete, has extensive ruins
recently excavated, disclosing temples of Apollo,
Dionysos and the Egyptian gods, a theatre, Agora
and other structures, and inscriptions going back
as early as the eighth century B. C. To the east-
ward of Thera is Anaphi, where a temple of Apollo
has been converted to the use of a convent, and to
the northwest is Amorgos, one of the earliest
colonies of the Milesians and the Samians. Anaphi
and Amorgos are the two easternmost islands of the
present Grecian kingdom.

Northward of this series of the Cyclades there
stretches another series eastward from Seriphos and
Siphnos. Here are probably the most important
islands of the Archipelago, Paros and Antiparos,
having to the eastward Naxos, separated by a strait
barely five miles wide. Paros has about eighty
square miles of area, and is practically a single
mountain, rising into a summit elevated 2,530 feet,

THE ARCHIPELAGO

composed mostly of crystalline limestone and marble,
sloping evenly down on all sides to a maritime
plain. Like so many others, this is also called St.
Elias, that being the favorite name for mountains
throughout Greece and the Archipelago, coming from
the great prophet of the Greek church. The sum-
mit rises gray and bare, but on the lower slopes and
the level plain below corn and wine are produced, the
surface being almost treeless. There is, however,
not very much cultivation of the soil. The crys-
talline limestone of the mountain is coarse-grained,
but it is traversed by the rich seams of white Parian
marble, which is purer and more translucent than
other marbles, and was anciently used for statuary
and decoration. These quarries are on the northern
slope of the mountain, and the marble was obtained
from subterranean tunnels, driven into the rock at
a descending angle, and the blocks, quarried by
lamplight, thus got the name of Lychnites, from
lyclinos, a " lamp." Several of these old tunnels
can still be seen. There are three good harbors on
the coast, Perikia, on the western side, being the
capital and chief port, occupying the site of the
ancient city of Paros, where the ruins have been
recently excavated. Here, on a rock beside the sea,
are the relics of a medieval castle, built almost
entirely of marble remains taken from earlier
structures. Upon the lofty headland of Kephalos,
guarding the harbor, are the abandoned ruins of a

124 THE MEDITERRANEAN

monastery of St. Anthony, amid other ruins of an
old castle of the \7enetians, that was gallantly,
though fruitlessly, defended against the attack of
the Turkish pirate Barbarossa in 1537. The gem
of the place, however, is the small Byzantine church
of the Empress Helena, built in the third century,
with a sixth century church opening out of it, the
latter adjoined by a diminutive baptistery. The
apse in each church is arranged as a chapter-house,
with semicircular stone seats like a little Greek
theatre. Here are preserved many interesting early
Christian architectural treasures.

Antiparos, the ancient Oliaros, is separated by a
strait barely a mile wide, off the southwestern coast
of Paros. It has seventeen square miles area, and
is about seven miles long, with a small population.
Antiparos has a famous stalactite cavern, on the
southern side, reached by a narrow passage, broken
by several steep and somewhat dangerous descents.
The chief grotto is more than three hundred feet
long, nearly as wide, and about eighty feet high. It
presents a scene, when lighted, of dazzling splendor,
and was well known to the ancients, but all trace
was lost in the middle ages and until its rediscovery
in 1673. There was a large population on these
islands before the Grecian era, and the poet Archi-
lochos won fame at Paros in the seventh cen-
tury B. C.

Naxos is the largest island of the Archipelago,

THE ARCHIPELAGO 125

having an area of nearly one hundred and eighty
square miles, and its mountain ridge rises into sum-
mits elevated nearly 3,000 feet, from which a grand
view is had over the encircling galaxy of islands,
twenty-two being in sight, and also across the
^Egean, to the eastward, the distant shore of Asia
Minor. Its history and formation are similar to
Paros, and Naxos still grows the vines which succeed
the classic vineyards where Bacchus found the for-
saken Ariadne. The present capital and chief port,
on the northwestern coast, is the village of Xaxos,
which has risen on the ruins of the ancient capital.
The Naxian marbles were used for statuary and roof-
ing slabs, and at one of the quarries there is still
lying an unfinished colossal statue of Apollo. The
island is a great producer of emery, and ever since
the remotest- ages it has furnished a large supply,
the output being controlled by the Grecian govern-
ment.

Syra, the chief mart of the Cyclades, is north-
west of Paros and Xaxos, an island of about thirty
square miles, having at either end a hill. Upon the
eastern coast is an excellent land-locked harbor,
which has made the busy port of Hermonpolis, hav-
ing the modern town picturesquely built on the en-
closing slopes. There are 18,000 population, and it
is a port of call for various steamers traversing the
Mediterranean. Xorthward of the town the surface
ascends to the summit of the northern hill, the

126 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Pyrgos, elevated 1,615 feet, from which there is a
splendid view. Northeast of Syra are Tenos and
Andros, the islands which are a prolongation, toward
the southeast, of Eubcea. Tenos, covering about
eighty square miles, is rugged, and at the eastern
verge has the Tsknias summit, rising 2,340 feet. The
terraced slopes are covered with vineyards and corn-
fields, and the capital, Tenos, is on the southern coast.
This island and Andros for several centuries were
Venetian, so that the people are more Italian than
Greek. The ruins of their capital, with the walls
of a Venetian citadel and some other buildings and
churches, are on a hill slope in the centre of
the island. A narrow strait separates Tenos from
Andros to the northwest, an island of about one
hundred and sixty miles surface, which is also
rugged, its most elevated summit being the Kouvaras,
3,280 feet high.

The eastern side of the 2Egean Sea, toward the
shore of Asia Minor, is scattered over with the
Sporades. There is Scarpenti, the ancient Carpa-
thus, which is a mass of bare mountains, the highest
summit rising about 4,000 feet, and has a small
population. Its coasts are generally rock-bound and
inaccessible, but there are a few shallow harbors.
Like all this eastern group of the Sporades, it is
controlled by the Turks. To the northward is Cos,
an island of about ninety square miles surface, of
different character, and famous now, as in antiquity,

Hermoupolis, Island of Syra

THE ARCHIPELAGO 127

for its fertility. It contains many relics of the
early Grecian era, has a Greek bishop and a Turkish
pasha. In the olden time it produced wines, dyes,
and delicate fabrics, which Strabo mentioned, in
speaking of its abundant fruitfulness, and it now
exports a great deal of fruits and wines to Egypt.
This island was the birthplace of Hippocrates, and
its harbor was first fortified by Alcibiades. In the
ancient city of Cos was the noted Temple of
Esculapius, with its School of Physicians and its
votive anatomical medals. Northwest of Cos are the
smaller islands of Kalymnos and Leros. They are
rocky, but have many fertile nooks, Leros being
noted for its honey. It was Strabo who quoted the
epigram describing the ancient Lerians as dishonest,
although they worshipped Diana and erected a
temple in her honor.

The Lerians are bad;

Not some, but all except Procles;

And Procles is a Lerian!

The famous island of Patmos is northwest of
Leros, and thirty miles off the coast of Asia Minor.
It is an irregular mass of almost barren rock
twenty-eight miles in circumference. The fame of
Patmos comes from the fact that under the Roman
rule it was a place of banishment, and hither was
sent St. John. After the crucifixion the evangelist
lived in Asia Minor, and much of the time at
Ephesus. According to Jerome, in the time of

128 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Domitian he was arrested by command of the Roman
proconsul and taken to Rome, where he was
plunged into a vessel of boiling oil, but, as this did
not harm him, he was banished, 95 A. D., to Patmos.
After the death of Domitian he was released, and
died in the reign of Trajan at a very advanced age.
At Patmos he wrote the Apocalypse and also one or
more of his other sacred works. In the side of a
hill there is pointed out by the Greek monks, who
have their monastery in the neighborhood, the
cavern which tradition describes as the spot where
St. John received the Revelation. The outlook from
this monastery is superb. It stands near the edge of
an extinct crater, and displays the curious shape of
the island, which, while two miles long, is compressed
into such a narrow isthmus at the centre that the
neck of land is barely three hundred feet wide.
Far over the sea, and all about, are spread in full
view the islands of the famous Archipelago. There
are four monasteries on Patmos and a sacred College
of the Apocalypse, with a number of theological
students, who study within view of the cave where
the Revelation was unfolded to John. The island
contains also two hundred churches that are at-
tended by the sparse population, which rarely reaches
three thousand people, almost all being of the Greek
church. The Temple of Artemis, on the island, con-
tinued until the eleventh century, when the Chris-
tians threw down the idol. While Patmos is sub-

THE ARCHIPELAGO 129

ject to Turkey, the people are almost all Greeks.
Upon the eastern side of the island they have their
chief landing place, a small village with a safe
harbor.

Northward from Patmos is the much larger
island of Samos, an elongated mountain ridge
stretching westward about twenty-seven miles, and
broadening until it embraces over two hundred
square miles surface. A long and narrow peninsula
protrudes from the coast of Asia Minor, and the
strait of the Little Boghaz separates it from Samos,
while on the other side the Great Boghaz intervenes
between Samos and Nicaria, with outlying clusters
of smaller islands; so that, altogether, this prolonga-
tion of the mountain ridge goes over westward almost
to the Cyclades. The Samos ridge rises into the
summit of Mount Kerkis, 4,725 feet, the ancient
Cercetius. The island has a population of sixty
thousand, nearly all Greeks, and there are several
good harbors, the chief town being Chora. It was
very enterprising in the early days, the Samians
founding several colonies on the islands and shores
of the ^Egean and the Propontis, and in the sixth
century B. C. their navy was the most powerful in
these waters. Their capital of Samos, near Chora,
was one of the finest Hellenic cities. Polycrates,
who then ruled, enriched it with a Temple of Juno,
constructed artificial moles, enclosing the harbor, and

built an aqueduct and a fortified palace. The island
VOL. II— 9

130 THE MEDITERRANEAN

was the birthplace of the philosopher Pythagoras,
and was noted for its pottery. The Persians captured
it, the Greeks retook it, the Romans became the
rulers, and in the middle ages the Saracens. Samos,
in 1873, was severely stricken by an earthquake, but
afterward recovered. It is prosperous and some of
the people quite wealthy, developing, among other
industries, the growing of muscatel wines and
tobacco and the making of cigarettes. The inhabi-
tants are nearly all Greek Christians, there being
few Moslems, and the Turkish suzerainty, usually
only nominal, is represented by a governor, appointed
by the sultan, called the Prince of Samos, a tribute
of $12,500 annually being paid the sultan, who
must name a Christian as the prince. The people
are, however, dissatisfied, as most Greeks are, when
under even nominal Turkish control, and especially
when, as in this case, they can invoke protection by
the European powers. They generally have worried
the prince until he resigns, and during a compara-
tively brief recent period they have driven out
seven of these badgered officials. In May, 1908, a
sort of insurrection arose against the newly appointed
Prince Kopassis Effendi. The local government un-
der Greek control pronounced its opposition to him,
and he sought Turkish intervention; so that a fleet
came on May 29 and bombarded the port and capital
of Vathy, killing and wounding about sixty people,
including some women and children. The prompt

THE ARCHIPELAGO 131

interference of the powers, however, restored order,
the chief malcontents then escaping to Athens. In
another outbreak, however, in April, 1909, the un-
fortunate Kopassis Effendi was slain.

Another protruding peninsula of Asia Minor,
north of Samos, and in front of the harbor of the
ancient city of Smyrna, extends far westward, and
just beyond is Scio, the island which in antiquity
was known as Chios, noted for its artistic develop-
ment. A strait barely four miles wide separates it
from the mainland. Its capital of Kastro is on a
good harbor, fronting the strait, and is defended by
a medieval castle, whence the name. Scio is a
spacious island, having four hundred square miles
area and fifty thousand population, mostly Turks.
Its uneven and rocky surface displays much pic-
turesque scenery, there being beautiful valleys and a
development of great fertility. The crops have to
be irrigated, however, the water coming largely from
wells, though the hills provide various small streams.
The island presents a scene of almost perpetual ver-
dure, being largely pasturage and vineyards. In the
olden time the wine of Chios was esteemed, and it
still enjoys good repute. The original settlers were
Pelasgians, and afterward came the lonians from
Asia Minor. Their chief city (Chios) claimed to
be the birthplace of Homer. After the Hellenic
period Rome dominated, and the Turks captured
Scio in the early fourteenth century, being succeeded

132 THE MEDITERRANEAN

by the Genoese, in 1346, who held it two centuries,
when the Turks recovered possession. During the
Greek revolution it rose against the Turks in 1822,
but was soon subdued, great atrocities attending the
conquest. Within two months twenty-three thou-
sand Sciotes were put to the sword, neither age nor
sex being spared ; forty-seven thousand were sold into
slavery, and five thousand fled to Greece. By the
close of August, 1822, the former Christian popula-
tion of a hundred thousand was reduced to two
thousand, and since then the people have been nearly
all Turks.

Northward from Scio, and separated from the
Asia Minor coast by a strait from seven to ten miles
wide, is another island shaped like a crescent, with
broadened ends. This is Mytilene, the ancient
Lesbos, having nearly three hundred square miles
area, and about forty thousand people, the population
having been larger prior to the Greek revolution.
The deep bay of Porto Coloni, on the southern side,
around which the crescent island enfolds, penetrates
to its centre, while on the southeastern verge is Porto
lero, another deeply indented harbor. Both have
narrow mouths, but, expanding as they stretch in-
land, they make good roadsteads. The surface
presents a varied display of wooded hills and beauti-
ful plains, the soil being fruitful. Mytilene, or
Kastro, the chief town, adjoins the strait on the
eastern coast, facing Asia Minor, and it was seri-

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS 133

ously damaged by an earthquake in IS 67. While
the population is Turkish, the principal merchants
are Greeks. Lesbos was one of the islands of the
^Eolians, and at an early period had populous cities,
of which Mytilene and Methynana were the most
important, because they had good harbors. After
the Hellenic rule came Home, and in the thirteenth
century it was held by the Venetians, but the Turks
by treachery got possession in 1462. It was the
birthplace of the historians Theophanes and Helleni-
cus, the philosopher Theophrastus, and the poets
Alcseus and Sappho.

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS.

The greatest island of the Grecian Archipelago is
Eubcea or Kegropont, stretching for more than a
hundred miles along the eastern verge of the Hel-
lenic kingdom. The strait of separation, the
Euripus, is practically a long, varied and beautiful
lake, enclosed on either hand by the splendid high-
lands of Greece and the island. It narrows to
barely three hundred feet, and through this pass the
tide rushes, at times with a velocity of six to eight
miles an hour in one direction, and then suddenly,
without any known cause, starts on the opposite way
at almost the same speed. These rapid and changing
currents depend not only upon the ebb and flow of
the tide, but also upon the winds and the varying
inflow of the streams that pour their torrents out of

134 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the bordering hills. The voyager of to-day is still
detained, like Agamemnon of old, by the " evil
leisure " of these winds and waves.

All the harbors of Eubrea are on its western coast,
facing Greece, the eastern coast being a succession of
precipitous cliffs that are the projecting terminations
of the mountain foothills. The surface of the island
is a series of mountain masses presenting attractive
scenery and rising into several summits, of which
the highest is Delph, near the centre, the ancient
Dirphys, elevated 5,725 feet. A railway coming
across from Athens terminates at the Euripus, which
is crossed by a swing bridge to the ancient town of
Chalkis, still the capital, its houses scattered pic-
turesquely over the hills. The diamond-shaped
Kastro is down by the water, being more than half
surrounded by the sea, its massive towers and walls,
built by the Venetians, having been strengthened by
the Turks, who captured it in 1470. As early as
the fifth century B. C., there was a wooden bridge
across the strait, to the heights of the Kanethos,
now known as Karababa. This bridge was fortified
and part of the narrow channel was filled up, the
idea then being to keep out the ships of Athens so
they could not cut off communication between Eubrea
and Boeotia opposite, to the northward. Chalkis
then was the capital, having been early established as
a port by the Phrenicians. There have been few
ancient relics found here, however. The place is

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS 135

mostly Venetian and Turkish, and the Venetian em-
blem, the Lion of St. Mark, abounds. To the south-
ward, near the shore, is a copious spring supplying
the town, which is said to be the ancient sacred
spring of Aretlmsa.

Upon the coast, southeast of Chalkis, are the re-
mains of Eretria, which, next to the capital, was the
leading Eubo3an city of the ancient Greeks, and it
displays numerous ruins, including a theatre, gym-
nasium, baths, temples of Dionysos and ApoHo, and
an imposing Acropolis, the tower commanding a
splendid view of the opposite Grecian coast for many
miles. Aristotle lived in the neighborhood of Eretria,
and some of the tombs which have been uncovered
here may have included his burial place. In one
was found the body of a person covered with leaves
of pure gold, a ring on the finger, seven diadems, a
stylus and the small figure of a philosopher. At the
foot of one of the tombs a broken stone bore the
inscription " Beote Aristotelous." Karystos, the
chief town of southern Eubrea, is also a survival of
the ancient times, but its ruins are mostly medieval.
To the northeast rises the highest summit of the
southern island, the forked peak of Ocha, elevated
5,260 feet, having a Chapel of St. Elias near the top,
and also an ancient temple dating from the sixth
century of our era. The northeastern foothills of
this mountain project into the sea, in the promontory
of Kavo Doro, with a lighthouse. It was here that

136 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the false beacons were lighted by Xauplius, to decoy
the Greek ships returning from Troy, but as his
enemies, whom he desired to slay, Agamemnon and
Ulysses, escaped from the wrecks, he threw himself
into the sea. Upon the western coast, north of
Chalkis, is the pleasant village of Vathondas, near
which was the Harpagion, whence Jupiter carried
off the beautiful youth Ganymede. Inland, toward
the northeast, towers the massive summit of
the Delph. Xerochori, the capital of north-
ern Euboea, is upon a fertile plain near the
shore, having near by the remains of ancient
Histlea and its port of Oreos, on the western coast.
Besides the Grecian relics there are ruins of Vene-
tian-Turkish fortifications, and to the southward the
Roman baths of Sulla at Lipsos. These baths are
still a popular watering place. All around the north-
ern Eubosan coast and islands are sardine fisheries,
the fishermen having their huts along the shore and
coming hither from all quarters in the summer.
Here stood the ancient Temple of Artemis Proseoa,
near the northeastern verge .of the island, the " east-
ward-looking Artemis," and off the protruding cape,
now known as Artemision, was fought, in July,
480 B. C., the first naval battle between the Greeks
and the Persians. It was a long contest, with vary-
ing success, the Greeks, led by Themistocles, being
helped by a storm wrecking two hundred Persian
galleys, and from this, as a prelude, the Greeks

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS 137

persevered until they won their subsequent naval vic-
tories and halted the Persian invasion. In full
view from the promontory are the northern group of
Sporades, of which Skyros, Skopelos and Skiathos
are the chief.

Across the strait that separates northern Eubrea
from the mainland protrudes the Kavo Stavro,
bounding the entrance of the broad Gulf of Volo, on
its western side. The tongue of land terminating in
this bold cape, the ancient Poseidion, encloses the
entrance strait, the Boghazi of Trikeri, which goes
behind Stavro, at first westward and then northward,
around the heights of Trikeri, into the gulf. This
spacious inland water was the Pegassean Gulf of
the classic Greeks, and a long and narrow peninsula
forms its eastern boundary, cutting it off from the
^Egean, and then turning westward and again doub-
ling upon itself northward to make the broad back
of a hill, on which is the Trikeri village. The Gulf
of Volo, thus surrounded by hills, is a beautiful and
fully protected sheet of water, its shores disclosing
the ruins of various ancient cities and having
modern villages that are aspiring to the rank of
watering places. In an inner harbor of its northern
coast is Volo, the modern port, having the massive
Mount Pelion for a noble background. The summit,
rising 5,350 feet, had an altar where sacrifices were
offered to Zeus. This is Thessaly, and Volo, with
twenty-five thousand people, is its harbor, the town

138 THE MEDITERRANEAN

being a growth entirely since the modern Grecian
independence, having passed from Turkish to
Grecian control in 1881. In the neighborhood are
the remains of three ancient cities, Demetrias, lolkos
and Pegasse, all of them having interesting ruins.
Philip V of Macedon called Demetrias, Chalkis and
Corinth the " Three fetters of Greece." lolkos had
a famous Temple of Artemis, and was noted in the
legends of Jason, who went in search of the golden
fleece. Pegasa3, getting its name from various brack-
ish springs coming out of neighboring rocks, gave
title to the Pegassean Gulf.

There are various battlefields in the hills border-
ing the plain of Thessaly, north and west of Volo.
Behind the city is the spacious Lake Karla, and west-
ward from it rises the Mavro Vonni, the " black
mountain." The crags displayed were anciently the
Kynoskephalaa or " dogs' heads," and here, in 197
B. C., was fought the historic battle in which the
Romans defeated the Greeks under Philip V, the Ro-
man combined forces of elephants and cavalry break-
ing the Macedonian phalanx and gaining the victory.
Southward from these hills is the valley of the an-
cient river Enipeus, and bordering it is the battle-
field of Pharsalos, about forty miles west of Volo.
In the mythical times this was said to be the home
of Achilles, and it had quite a history in the various
Greek wars. Its great fame, however, came from
the conflict between Caesar and Pompey, August 9,

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS 139

B. C. 48, in which Pompey's forces were annihilated,
and he fled to the coast and embarked for Egypt.
Farther inland, in the Thessalian vale, is Trikkala,
where Esculapius was worshipped. Fourteen miles
to the northwest is Kalabaka, where are the noted
monasteries of Meteora — " in the air." In the tur-
bulent middle ages, in the fourteenth century, these
monasteries were founded, on the summits of various
pillar-like rocks, rising precipitously from the valley,
there having been twenty-four of them, though half
had been abandoned by the sixteenth century, and
at present only seven remain, of which two are unin-
habited, and only about thirty monks are now resi-
dent. The largest and highest is Meteoron, founded
in 1388, on a summit rising 1,820 feet; the richest
is St. Stephen, an early Byzantine foundation, and
the most interesting is St. Barlaam, its chapel hewn
in the rock, and adorned with paintings illustrating
the life of St. Ephraim. From their lofty situa-
tion, on the top of these naked gray cliffs, there is
a grand view over the Thessalian plain. The col-
umnar rocks of Meteora are in two groups, and ac-
cess is had by various ticklish ladders, which, how-
ever, careful visitors avoid, preferring to be lifted
in a net drawn up by a rope and windlass.

From this elevated perch one looks down upon
a mass of the most luxuriant vegetation in the valley,
through which flows the Peneios of the ancients, the
most considerable river of Thessaly. It goes out

140 THE MEDITERRANEAN"

past Trikkala eastward, and then northeast through
the plain and bordering mountains to the ^gean,
near the northern boundary of modern Hellas. It
passes Larissa, the Turkish Yenishehr, or " new
town," and is known in modern times as the Salam-
vrias, flowing with a broad and rapid current.
Within the last decade most of the Turks have re-
tired from Larissa, leaving the Greeks and Jews in
control, and the town enjoys the active trade of the
rich agricultural region surrounding. Its ancient
Acropolis hill is now crowned by the church and
school of the archbishop, and there are scant remains
of an old amphitheatre on the southwestern verge.
The change of population is testified to by the aban-
donment of most of the mosques, only four out of
twenty-seven being in use. Larissa was one of the
original Pelasgean settlements of Thessaly. Here
lived the noted physician, Hippocrates, in the fifth
and fourth centuries B. C. The Peneios, below
Larissa, flows north and northeast, and goes out to
. the sea through the magnificent defile, the Vale of
Tempe, the Grecian name meaning " the cuttings."
It is a mountain gorge, nearly five miles long, cut
steeply down into the ridge, and having, on the one
hand, Mount Ossa and, on the other, Olympus.
Through it rushes a stream, most impetuous when in
full volume, with picturesque cliffs rising on high,
giving an elaborate display of plant and foliage, and
seen afar, through the splendid gorge, is a bewitch-

The Vale of Tempe.

EUBCEA TO OLYMPUS 141

ing vista view of the distant sea. Lovely glades
are found in the rocky environment, where the cliffs
fall back and make a restricted valley floor. To
one of these glades came Apollo, seeking expiation
for the slaughter of the Delphic python, and, having
found it, an altar was erected, to which proceeded,
every eight years, a solemn embassy, marching far
over the hills from Delphi. Neptune, we are told,
broke down this gorge to let the waters out, which
had previously been dammed up by the mountain
ridge, and made a lake, covering the plain of Thes-
saly. At the mouth of the Peneios is the village of
Laspochori, where sacrifices were offered in antiq-
uity to the sea god and games held in his honor
by the grateful people. To the southward of the
Vale of Tempe rises the noble form of Mount Ossa,
its pyramidal summit of Kissavos elevated 6,400
feet. To the northward is the massive Mount Olym-
pus, the home of the immortal Jupiter, rising 9,790
feet. The Vale of Tempe forms the national bound-
ary between Greece and Turkey.

Olympus is a lofty ridge, stretching northwest-
ward, a mountain of grand proportions, its broad
summit being covered with snow during most of the
year. Its sides rise in tremendous precipices,
broken by vast ravines, the lower portions being
densely wooded and the top a naked rock. It was
the very natural idea of the early Greeks that this,
the greatest mountain of their classic land, a lofty

142 THE MEDITERRANEAN

peak rising above the clouds of the lower atmos-
phere, should be the seat of their deity. Homer dis-
tinguishes between Olympus, the mountain, and
the ether above, which was the heaven of the gods.
The later poets, however, generally use the terms as
practically equivalent. In the elaborate Grecian
mythology Olympus was the common home of the
multitude of their gods. Each one had special
haunts, but all were adjuncts of the great court of
Zeus, or Jupiter, on Olympus, where were held the
assemblies and elaborate feasts of the gods.

SALONIKI, ATHOS AND PHILIPPI.

The Turkish domain, north of Thessaly, is Mace-
donia, a region of perennial revolt by the Greeks,
who form the major part of the population, against
the Turkish misrule. When the despotism becomes
unbearable, there follows an outbreak, which draws
the attention of the European Powers. Intervention
is made, the Turks are restrained, and then the civil-
ized world directs its attention elsewhere, until the
inevitable recurrence of misrule brings another out-
break, massacre and intervention. The northern
shore of the ^Egean is here indented with deep bays,
separated by long protruding peninsulas. It was
in ancient times the land of Thrace, extending east-
ward to the Hellespont. Stretching far into the
land, north of the Grecian boundary, is the Gulf
of Saloniki. The voyage into this extensive gulf

SALONIKI, ATHOS AND PH1L1PPI 143

presents, at the entrance, a splendid display of the
massive Mount Olympus, and, sailing through the
bay, the visitor arrives, in its northernmost harbor,
at Saloniki, which, next to Constantinople, is the
chief city of European Turkey.

Saloniki occupies a fine position, the houses, in
terraces, rising on the sloping hills encircling the
bay, and from its original name of Therma, given
from the adjacent hot springs, the bay was in the
olden time known as the Therm aic Gulf. The city
enjoys prosperous trade, which has attracted a pop-
ulation of 120,000, and it is one of the chief centres
of Turkish commerce, being the entrepot of Mace-
donia and the extensive adjacent provinces. It had
a very ancient origin, being controlled by Athens,
and in 315 B. C., Cassander of Macedon, who mar-
ried the daughter of Philip, enlarged and beautified
it for the Macedonian capital and chief naval sta-
tion, naming it Thessalonica, after his wife. When
the Romans captured it, they made it the capital
of their Illyrian provinces. Here came Cicero in
his exile, and the Apostle Paul visited it about 52
A. D., and addressed epistles to its church. In 390
A. D., the people resenting the Roman rule and a
riot following, the Emperor Theodosius made a
frightful massacre, decimating the population. It
afterward grew greatly, and in the early tenth cen-
tury, when captured by the Saracens, the population
exceeded two hundred thousand. As a result of the

144 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Crusades, the Normans held it later, then the Vene-
tians, and in 1430 the Turks got possession and have
ruled ever since. The citadel and walls were built
by the Venetians, and are now much dilapidated. It
was from Saloniki, in April, 1909, that the Young
Turkish army marched to capture Constantinople and
dethrone Sultan Abdul Hamid, and he was brought a
prisoner to this city when the revolution was suc-
cessful. The special fame of Saloniki is the num-
ber and beauty of its churches, various early Chris-
tian structures now being mosques, although there is
a large Grecian and also a considerable Jewish pop-
ulation. The Church of St. George, known as the
Rotunda, resembles the Roman Pantheon, and was
originally a temple of the sect known as the Cabiri.
The Church of St. Sophia, now a mosque, is noted
as the place where, in the original building on the
site, St. Paul is said to have preached. There are
many interesting remains of antiquity. At the
western end of the Via Egnotia is a Roman trium-
phal arch, believed to have been erected in honor of
Augustus, commemorating the battle of Philippi.
It is built of huge blocks of marble, eighteen feet
high and twelve feet wide. Another arch of brick,
faced with marble, has displays of sculptured camels,
and is supposed to typify the victory of Constantino
over the Sarmatians. The old citadel, even in its
dilapidation, is one of the picturesque adornments
of this busy city.

SALONIKI, ATHOS AND PHILIPPI 145

Enclosing the Gulf of Saloniki, on its eastern side,
there projects far into the ^Egean a broad peninsula,
divided at its extremity into three long subordinate
peninsulas, each connected by a narrow isthmus with
the mainland. This region, stretching southeast
from Saloniki, is about thirty miles long and from,
four to seven miles wide, mountainous, and cut by
numerous ravines, which, extending under the sea,
make long bays between the terminating peninsulas.
At the extremity of the easternmost peninsula is the
famous Hagion Oros of the ancient Greeks, the
Turkish Aineros, known to us as Mount Athos, rising
6,350 feet. It is a splendid mountain, seen from
afar over the sea, which almost entirely surrounds
it, built up of gneiss and slates, the peak being white
limestone and the sides flanked with forests of chest-
nut, oak and pine, some of the trees growing to im-
mense size. Various species of aromatic herbs are
raised here in abundance, from which the monks ex-
tract the oils and essences, using them for medicinal
purposes, perfumery and incense. The narrow isth-
mus, connecting the mountain with the main penin-
sula, was cut for a canal by Xerxes, through which
his galleys passed for the invasion of Greece, and
some remains of the canal are yet visible. The old
tradition is that the giant Athos hurled this moun-
tain at the gods on Olympus and it dropped in this
place at the edge of the sea. In ancient times the

peninsula had several flourishing cities.
VOL. 11—10

146 THE MEDITERRANEAN

When Home became Christianized Athos was
gradually dotted over with hermitages and monas-
teries, most of them founded and endowed by the
Byzantine emperors. Athanasius, in 968, founded
the first monastery, St. Laura. It was here that am-
bitious malcontents of the court at Constantinople,
favorites in disgrace, and others took refuge to await
a change in affairs and the return of princely favor.
There are a number of the monasteries surviving,
after an existence of fifteen centuries, under the aus-
pices of the Greek church, and their monks number
several thousand, coming from Greece, Belgium,
Roumania and Russia, where the monasteries of
Athos possess estates. No female has been permitted
to set foot on Athos for over fifteen hundred years.
An administrative assembly, called the Probaton,
rules them, being cohiposed of delegates from each
monastery chosen every four years, and they pay
tribute annually to the Turkish government. In the
middle ages these establishments were the seat of
Greek science and the centre of Byzantine Christian
knowledge, possessing large and valuable libraries
that still continue the repositories of many old and
beautiful manuscripts. A serious earthquake occurred
at Mount Athos in November, 1905, greatly damag-
ing parts of these monasteries and killing about a
dozen monks, who were in their cells when rocks
rolled down upon them from the mountain, crushing
the structures.

SALONIKI, ATHOS AND PHILIPPI 147

Among the many prized treasures at Athos is a
piece of the true cross. The tradition is that in the
year 326 the Empress Helena, mother of the Em-
peror Constantine the Great, at the age of 79, made
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and there discovered the
true cross. The church festival of the " Invention
of the Cross," instituted in honor of this discovery,
is held May 3. When Helena visited the various
sacred localities at Jerusalem every trace of the great
events of the Crucifixion had been obliterated by the
heathen, and a Temple of Venus was upon Mount
Calvary. A Jew who had treasured up all the folk
lore and traditions is said to have pointed out to her
the probable place of Christ's sepulchre. This spot
being excavated, three crosses were discovered, and
the title which that of Jesus bore was found lying
by itself. The Cross of Christ was distinguished
from the others by miraculous cures wrought by
touching it. A church was built over the spot, on
Calvary, and a part of the cross deposited there ; an-
other part was sent to Rome, and a church also built
to receive the relic; while the remainder was taken
to Constantinople, and put by Constantine in the
head of a statue of himself. From this piece vari-
ous fragments at times went to different parts of the
world, and thus Mount Athos got its treasure.

Northeast from Athos, rises in the sea the almost
circular mountain island of Thasos, its summit ele-
vated 3,500 feet. This is the most northerly island

148 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of the Grecian Archipelago, covering about eighty
square miles surface, and it is not far distant from
the Thracian shore. Thasos was long famed for its
gold mines, opened by the Phrenicians, and when
well worked in the early times producing for the
kings of Macedonia $300,000 a year. Turkey now
controls it, but the gold seems to have gone. Near
Thasos, on the mainland, is the little port of Kavalla,
where the tourist lands who wishes to explore the
noted ruins and battlefield of Philippi, a short dis-
tance inland. Philippi was a city of ancient Mace-
donia, enlarged by Philip, the father of Alexander
the Great, from whom it received its name. When
he captured this part of Thrace it was called
Crenidas, or the " place of the fountains," being so
named from its numerous springs and streams, and
he found these waters to be prolific gold bearers,
from which he got a thousand talents a year. Philip
fortified it, as a protection to his frontier, against
the forays of the Thracian tribes from the interior.
It was at Philippi the fate of the Roman republic
was decided, in the autumn of 42 B. C., in the bat-
tles between Brutus and Cassius on the one side, and
Antony and Octavius on the other. There were two
engagements on the same field, twenty days apart, in
the first of which Brutus gained advantage over
Octavius, and Antony over Cassius. In the second
conflict Brutus was totally routed. The creation of
the Roman empire followed, and Octavius, afterward

SALONIKI, ATHOS AND PHILIPPI 149

called Augustus, made Philippi a Roman colony.
The city was twice visited by St. Paul, as recorded
in The Acts; it was the first place in Europe where
he preached the Gospel; and to the church, founded
here, he addressed an epistle. It is now a mass of
ruins, of which the most prominent are a temple of
Claudius, the remains of an amphitheatre, and some
huge marble columns.

The northern portion of the ^Egean Sea is a great
bay, almost entirely surrounded by highlands, and
enclosed on either hand by the Peninsulas of Athos
and Gallipoli. In front of it are islands, and some
of these are noted. Within the bay, and near the
Thracian coast, is Samothrace, the ancient Electris,
and Dardania, a sterile, rugged region covering about
thirty square miles and lacking good harbors on its
forbidding coast. Out beyond is the curiously
formed island of Lemnos, a region of hills, almost
bisected by two deeply indented bays, Paradisi on
the northern shore and San Antonio on the southern.
It covers about two hundred square miles, and the
people are mostly fishermen, though parts of the sur-
face are tilled. It has a Turkish governor residing
at Castro on the western coast. Lemnos in an-
tiquity was sacred to Vulcan, who had a workshop
here, described in the mythological traditions. The
original people were Thracians, succeeded by the
fabulous Minyae, and then by Pelasgians. Pliny
says it contained a labyrinth supported by one hun-

150 THE MEDITERRANEAN

dred and fifty columns, the gates being so easily
moved that a child could open them. From the most
remote period it produced the Terra Lemnia, a spe-
cies of earth believed to possess extraordinary medici-
nal virtues. The Persians captured the island, but
Miltiades delivered it, and ultimately Lemnos be-
came an Ottoman dependency. The peninsula of
Gallipoli is the narrow, elongated strip of land pro-
truding far southwestward from Thrace and point-
ing directly toward distant Lemnos. The Greek
word for a peninsula is Chersonesus, and this was
known anciently as the Thracian Chersonesus.
Alongside it, forty miles northeast of Lemnos, is the
entrance to the famous Dardanelles, enclosed by the
Peninsula of Gallipoli on the European side and
Asia Minor on the other, the route to Constantinople
and the Black Sea.

THE SIEGE OF TKOY.

The eastern shore of the ^Egean Sea is Asia Minor,
and its interior surface is generally a fertile plain.
The old Greek name of Asia Minor was Anatolia,
meaning " the east," or " the land of the rising sun,"
for thus they looked out upon it from their Archi-
pelago and finally overran and controlled it. When
the Eomans got full possession, they called it their
province of Asia, a word that is believed to have
been derived from the Sanskrit ushas, meaning " the
dawn," and which ultimately came to be the desig-

THE SIEGE OF TROY 151

nation of the entire continent. In this original
province of Asia was the earliest establishment of the
Christian religion, and the followers of Christ and
His Apostles were first designated as Christians at
Antioch. In the Apocalypse St. John records with
the Kevelation, that he was commanded : " What
thou seest write in a book, and send unto the seven
churches which are in Asia," these being named as
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea. The surface of Asia
Minor is a high plateau, gradually descending west-
ward to the coastal plain, having some mountains,
and on the south the long and elevated range of
Mount Taurus. The western coast plain has one of
the most pleasant climates in the world. Its fruits
were celebrated in ancient times, and are still its im-
portant product. The northern part was Mysia;
south of this was Lydia, and beyond Caria, with
Lycia on the southern coast. In Lydia and Caria
was the celebrated Ionic federation of cities, peopled
by Greek colonists, including Smyrna, Ephesus,
Miletus and others. In the northern portion, beyond
the Hellespont and near the Propontis, was the city
of Nicsea, named for his wife by Lysimachus, general
of Alexander the Great, the chief city of Bithynia,
and long a Byzantine bulwark against the Arabs,
who conquered it in 1080, but afterward, in turn,
succumbed to the Crusaders. The Turks, however,
got it in the thirteenth century, and it is now a semi-

152 THE MEDITERRANEAN

decayed village of barely a thousand people, called
Isnik. ISTicsea was noted as the city where the first
and most famous Council of the Church was called,
by the Emperor Constantine the Great, in 325, being
attended by 318 bishops and 2,000 clergy, who fixed
the date for celebrating Easter and formulated the
" Nicene Creed."

The northwestern corner of Asia Minor was the
Troad, the country of Troy, which occupied the coast
lands along the ^gean Sea, the Hellespont, Pro-
pontis, and farther eastward. The city of Troy was
at the base of Mount Ida, far enough from the sea
to allow of the movements of large armies on the
coastal plain in front, and was in a position, suffi-
ciently elevated, to command a good view of the lower
lands all around. Before it flowed two small rivers,
the Simois and the Scamander, parallel for some dis-
tance, and then uniting and emptying into the Helles-
pont. This was " Old Ilium," the city of the fa-
mous Trojan War, described by Homer. Later, in
the seventh century B. C., according to Strabo, there
was another city founded here, which was afterward
designated as " K"ew Ilium." The ancient Ilium
stood on the right bank of the Scamander, now called
the Mendereh. " New Ilium " was near the junction
of the two rivers, but in the progress of time the
streams, changing their beds, sought separate chan-
nels, and the Simois, now the Dunbrok, flowed out
independently to the Hellespont, a brook about

THE SIEGE OF TROY 153

twelve miles long. The ruins of Troy are near the
village of Hissarlik, and are in and around the
mound of Hissarlik, which Schliemann, and his suc-
cessor Dorpfeld, excavated. It is in a position four
miles back from the ^Egean coast and about an
equal distance from the Dardanelles. Far over the
sea, on the one hand, is seen the peak of Samothrace,
while inland rises the massive Kaz Dagh, the Mount
Ida. The excavators found that successive cities,
superposed one upon the other, had been built on this
site by the Trojans, Greeks and Romans, thus making
the mound, which subsequent centuries had covered
with soil. No less than nine cities were thus un-
covered, in strata, the lowest believed to be of at least
twenty centuries before the Christian era, and
Homer's Troy about the fourth from the top. Some
four miles off shore, and thirteen miles from the
Dardanelles, is the island of Tenedos, two miles in
circumference, and now having several thousand pop-
ulation, mostly Greeks. Its little port is defended
by two forts, and it has had fame in many wars. It
was behind this island the Greeks withdrew and hid
their fleet in the Trojan "War, when they made the
Trojans believe they had abandoned the siege and
had left the wooden horse as an offering. Xerxes
made the island his naval base when he invaded
Greece. It was a naval stronghold in every subse-
quent war, and the Venetians and Turks long con-
tested its possession, the latter ultimately conquering.

154 THE MEDITERRANEAN

On the Mendereh, near Bunarbashi, about five miles
south of Troy, are a hot and cold spring, which are
supposed to be those mentioned in the Iliad.

Whether the siege of Troy was a myth or a reality
has long been debated, but Homer's Iliad and
Odyssey, telling of its closing scenes, are believed to
have a foundation of fact and will never cease to
have interest as the most renowned Greek classics.
We are told that Dardanus, who came from Arcadia,
was the ancestor of the Trojan kings. His son was
Erichthomus, succeeded by Tros, and he by Ilus, who
founded, on the plain of Troy, the city of Ilium.
Ilus was followed by Laomedon, and to him, by com-
mand of Jupiter, Neptune and Apollo were made
temporarily subject. Neptune built the walls of
Ilium and Apollo cared for the herds, but when their
time of service was completed Laomedon refused
to pay what was due. In revenge, Neptune sent a
sea monster to harry the Trojans and ravage their
fields, and to avert this the king made a public offer
to anyone who would rid the land of this scourge to
present him with the immortal horses that had been
given by Jupiter to Tros. The oracle was consulted,
who declared that a virgin of noble blood must be sac-
rificed, the lot falling on Hesione, Laomedon's daugh-
ter, but she was rescued by Hercules, who oppor-
tunely intervened and killed the monster. The
treacherous king gave the hero a pair of mortal
horses, and Hercules, disgusted at the perfidy, came

THE SIEGE OF TROY 155

with six ships, captured Troy, killed Laomedon, and
placed his son Priam on the throne, he alone of the
king's sons having protested against his father's trick.
Priam and his queen Hecuba had numerous children,
of whom Paris, by the abduction of Helen, wife of
Menelaus of Sparta, brought on the memorable siege
of Troy. The beautiful Helen was a daughter of
Jupiter. The mythological tale is that the nymph
Leda was the wife of Tyndarus, King of Sparta, and
Jupiter, who became enamoured of her, metamor-
phosed Leda into a swan. She is fabled to have laid
two eggs, one of which produced Pollux and Helen,
said to be the children of Jupiter, and the other
Castor and Clytemnestra, children of Tyndarus.
Clytemnestra was given by her father to Agamemnon,
and Helen to Menelaus, both the sons of Atreus, king
of Mycenae, the former succeeding his father on that
throne, while the latter succeeded to the throne of
Sparta. On Agamemnon's return from the siege of
Troy, Clytemnestra, actuated by jealousy, slew him
in his bath, and she was afterward slain by Orestes,
son of Agamemnon. Her tragic story was always a
favorite with dramatists, Voltaire and others having
used it. Pollux and Helen were immortals, and the
twins Castor and Pollux were famous heroes in Greek
mythology, having sailed with the Argonauts, and
also having appeared at Troy. They were wor-
shipped as the tutelary gods of hospitality, presiding
on festal occasions and at gymnastic games, being the

156 THE MEDITERRANEAN

helpers of mankind and the calmers of tempests.
Jupiter permitted Castor, who was mortal, to alter-
nately pass one day with his immortal brother on
Mount Olympus and the next day on the earth.
They finally were translated to Heaven and placed
among the stars, where they became the constellation
Gemini, the Twins.

Paris was a youth of the greatest comeliness, but
an oracle had foretold that he would cause the death
of his kindred and the ruin of his country. This
made his royal parents banish him, and he grew up
as a young shepherd on Mount Ida, ignorant of his
birth, but admired by all for his beauty. The
mythological tradition tells how the sea nymph
Thetis was given in marriage to Peleus, and there
was a great wedding feast, to which all the immortals
were invited excepting Eris, the goddess of Discord.
She came unbidden, however, and threw among them
the famous golden apple, inscribed " To the Fairest."
This made a rivalry among the goddesses, who all
claimed the prize, and three of them particularly per-
sisted in the claim — Venus, Juno and Athena —
so that soon a discord reigned at the feast. None
dared decide this momentous problem, not even Jupi-
ter himself, and the rivals were told to select a judge
from among the mortals, and they chose Paris.
When the time for judgment came, Juno appeared in
regal majesty, and for a favorable verdict offered
Paris wealth and kingly power; Athena told him to

THE SIEGE OF TROY 157

be wise in honoring her, and she would give him wis-
dom lasting forever, great glory among men, and
renown in war; Venus finally beamed upon him in
all her beauty, and arrayed with her magical Cestus,
which none could resist, and said he should have for
wife the fairest woman in the world. The entranced
Paris fell on his knees and offered Venus the golden
apple, the others vanishing in an ill-boding cloud.
From that time Paris sought only the counsel of
Venus, and from her first learned that he was the
son of Priam, and he returned to seek his royal
kindred, being welcomed to Troy as a long lost prince.
Then came Cassandra, the young sister of Hector,
who had once disdained Apollo, and the god punished
her by making her foresee all things truly, but having
her prophecies ever disbelieved. She soon broke into
lamentations, foreseeing the terrible future, but the
Trojans gave no heed, as they regarded her visions
only as spells of madness. Paris was the unques-
tioned hero, and after a period of rejoicing at his re-
turn, Venus bade him take ship and search for his
destined bride.

He sailed across the ^Egean to Greece, and after
much journeying and adventure came to Sparta,
where he was kindly welcomed by Menelaus and the
fair Helen. Here he abided for a long time, in their
company, until Menelaus went away on a visit to
Crete. Then, dishonoring his host, Paris won the
heart of Helen, and persuaded her to leave Sparta,

158 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and sail over the sea with him to Troy. Helen was
noted as the fairest woman in the world, and in all
Greece there was none so beautiful. Before she left
her mother's home she had been wooed by all the
greatest Grecian heroes, and, fearing for her peace of
mind, all the suitors had been bound by an oath that
they were to respect her choice and go to the aid of
her husband if ever she should be stolen away.
King Menelaus returned to Sparta, from Crete, to
find that his treacherous guest had carried off his
wife, and, the news quickly spreading, all Greece was
fired with indignation. The heroes, mindful of the
oath, determined to cross the ^Egean, capture Troy,
and rescue Helen. They spent ten years in collecting
a vast armament, and at the end of that period had
gathered a fleet of nearly twelve hundred ships, with
more than a hundred thousand men, the forces as-
sembling at Aulis in Bceotia, with Agamemnon se-
lected as commander. Ulysses at first joined
unwillingly, being loath to leave his wife and child
at Ithaca. Achilles was the greatest of the warriors
— the son of Thetis and Peleus — now grown to
manhood, and a wonder of strength, being also re-
garded as invulnerable, for his mother, forewarned
of his death in the Trojan War, had dipped him in the
river Styx, when an infant, so that he could take no
hurt from any weapon, holding him only by his little
heel, which alone could be wounded. Another hero
was Ajax, the giant, and among the Grecian host

THE SIEGE OF TROY 159

were also the wise Xestor, Diomedes, Patroclus and
Palamedes. After much delay and varied fortunes,
the great Grecian fleet set sail, and, crossing the sea,
invaded the plain of Troy, driving the Trojans and
their allies within the city walls.

Meanwhile the aged Priam and Hecuba, in Troy,
had given shelter to Paris and his stolen bride, the
fair Helen, and during the long Grecian prepara-
tions had learned to love her, though not without
misgiving as to the outcome, and long before the in-
vaders arrived they were prepared to defend their
home and city. .There were also many heroes among
the Trojans, including ^Eneas and Deiphobus, Sarpe-
don and Antenor, Glaucus and Priam's famous son
Hector, chief wrarrior of all, and regarded as the bul-
wark of Troy. Even the immortals took sides ; Juno
and Athena, against whom was made the judgment of
Paris, favored the Greeks, as also did Neptune, the
sea god. But Venus befriended the Trojans with all
her power, and persuaded Mars to do likewise.
Jupiter and Apollo gave special aid to heroes whom
they loved, now on one side and now on the other.
At the opening of the siege of Troy Menelaus and
Ulysses went into the city and demanded that the
fair Helen should be given back to her rightful hus-
band, but this the Trojans refused. During nine
years the Greeks spent their time in reducing the
neighboring towns and besieging the city, which held
out against every device and onslaught. The date of

160 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the beginning of these operations is fixed by the
chroniclers in 119-1 B. C. There were numerous
single combats and other interesting episodes, and in
the tenth and final year of the siege many things
transpired, and the Greeks fell to quarrelling about
the spoils. A special feud was started between Aga-
memnon and Achilles, which proved almost disastrous
to the Greeks, and with this dispute the story of the
siege, in Homer's Iliad, opens. Achilles left the field
in anger and refused to fight, sulking in his tent.
But, as it unexpectedly happened, Hector, in a foray,
killed Achilles' dear friend Patroclus. This roused
the Grecian hero, and he returned to the fight, going
forth clad in armor, which had been wrought for him
by Vulcan, at the prayer of his mother Thetis. He
sought for Hector everywhere, and by the river
Scamander met and slew him, afterward dragging
the dead body across the plain, at the tail of his char-
iot. Then came out of Troy, in deepest grief, the
aged Priam, alone by night to the tent of Achilles,
seeking in his sorrow to pacify the victor and ran-
som his son's body, when the great Achilles relented
and granted a truce, that the funeral honors should
not be interrupted.

But Achilles did not long survive his victory, for
he was treacherously slain by Paris, who lay in wait
in a temple sacred to Apollo, and from a hiding place
sent a poisoned arrow that pierced the hero's heel,
where alone the water of the Styx had not given pro-

THE SIEGE OF TROY 161

tection, and from the venom Achilles died. Paris
himself, in turn, was soon afterward slain by another
poisoned arrow. But Troy still held out, and then
the cunning Ulysses devised a plan of capture,
through the ruse of the wooden horse. The Grecian
army one day broke camp, as if they had abandoned
the siege, and going aboard their fleet, sailed away,
but when out of sight, the ships changed their course
and anchored behind the island of Tenedos. They
had built the wooden horse, like a prodigious idol,
and through a carefully concealed door, opening into
the hollow interior, crept Ulysses, Menelaus and sev-
eral other armed chiefs. Within the walls of Troy
there was great rejoicing, for the enemy had aban-
doned the siege and gone away, their camp being
deserted. The city gates were thrown open, and the
people rushed out, wandering over the plain, after
their long captivity, and finding the horse in the
enemy's camp, they marvelled much at its size and
splendor. They proposed moving the horse into the
city, as a trophy, but old Laocoon, a priest of Nep-
tune, protested, telling them to take heed lest they
suffer, as this was evidently a piece of Grecian treach-
ery. Just then there was found, by the shore, a
wretched Greek, in bedraggled garments and suffer-
ing from wounds, who besought them to spare his
life. He said he would tell the truth, that he was a
Greek, named Sinon, who had been abused, mal-
treated and left behind, by the malice of Ulysses, that
VOL. 11—11

162 THE MEDITERRANEAN"

the Greeks had built the wooden horse as an offering
to Athena, and had made it so big to prevent its be-
ing moved out of the camp. This news gave the
Trojans much joy, and as they were consulting how
to get the horse within the city two huge serpents
came out of the sea and, crawling over the plain,
rushed upon Laocob'n and his two sons, wrapping in
snaky coils around their writhing bodies, devouring
them, and then quickly returning to the sea. This
was an omen for the Trojans, who saw that Laocoon
had been summarily punished for his blasphemous
objection to taking the horse into the city. Wreath-
ing it with garlands, they dragged the horse labori-
ously through the gate, and then, with the trophy
in possession, forgot all their past danger, in the uni-
versal rejoicing that the long siege had ended.

Sleep ultimately fell upon the city, helped by the
arts of Juno and Athena, and in the darkness of mid-
night, Sinon, who had been invited in by them, went
stealthily to the wooden horse and opened the secret
door. Ulysses, Menelaus, and the others came out,
and the signal was given to the Grecian ships which,
under cover of the night, had come back from their
hiding place behind Tenedos, and, in the darkness,
landed again their cohorts upon the plain before
Troy. Not a Trojan was on guard. The men from
the wooden horse opened the gates, letting their com-
rades in, and a general massacre ensued, in which
Priam and many of his warriors fell by the sword.

THE LEVANT 163

Thus, in 1184 B. C., Troy was captured, the city
burned and utterly destroyed, and the kingdom ruth-
lessly plundered. Homeward sailed the victorious
Greeks, taking their spoils, and as royal captives the
unfortunate Cassandra and Andromache. Helen,
who had been the cause of it all, was awakened from
the enchantment of Venus, and she also went along,
eager to be forgiven by her wronged husband, Mene-
laus. Of the Trojan heroes, ^Eneas and Antener
alone escaped, and the Roman tradition is that
^Eneas ultimately went to Italy and became the an-
cestor of their kings.

THE LEVANT.

We have come, in this coastal district of Asia
Minor, to the region of heterogeneous population,
made up of various Mediterranean and oriental
races, to which, in the middle ages, was given the
name of the " Levant." Its people are known as the
Levantines, who speak in their intercourse with Eu-
ropeans and other strangers the special dialect
known as the lingua Levanta. This term, which
means " east," was first used to designate them by
the Venetians and the Genoese. The Asia Minor
coast is picturesque, having various deeply indented
bays, making good harbors, off which lie some of the
noted islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and it has
several well-known ports, while there are displayed
throughout the ruins of various cities of ancient re-

164 THE MEDITERRANEAN

nown. In Mysia, south of the Troad, is the expan-
sive Gulf of Adramyti, running far up into the
land, and having in the offing the island of Mytilene.
The region around this gulf became the Roman king-
dom of Pergamos, and a little way inland is Bergame,
a town in the beautiful valley of the Caieus, flowing
out to the JEgean, where the people now make good
morocco leather. At this place recent excavations
have disclosed extensive ruins of the ancient city of
Pergamos, which was one of the most splendid in
Asia Minor during the early Grecian rule, and re-
nowned for its library and school of literature. The
special demands of this library for manuscript mate-
rials led to the invention of parchment, which was
named from the city. In the Roman domination
Pergamos was deprived of its literary treasures by
Antony, who removed, them to the library at Alex-
andria. Pergamos also was among the chief seats of
early Christianity, and here came St. Paul, and
founded one of the " seven churches which are in
Asia." The old city was destroyed during the Turk-
ish wars.

The ancient kingdom of Lydia was south of Mysia,
and through it ran the river Hermus, in a valley of
great fertility, flowing out to the JEgean, through
what is now the Gulf of Smyrna. On the southern
side of the Hermus is Mount Tmolus, the modern
Boz Dagh, and the Pactolus tributary came from the
southwest, along the flanks of Tmolus, bringing down

THE LEVANT 165

gold from the rich veins of the mountain. The an-
cient capital of Lydia was Sardis, the city spreading
over the plain, between the mountain and the two
rivers, near their junction, about forty-five miles east
of the Gulf of Smyrna. Here lived Croesus, the fa-
mous king of Lydia, who was the richest man in the
world in his day, as his capital of Sardis was one of
the richest cities then existing. His reign was dur-
ing the sixth century B. C., and he subjugated most
of Asia Minor. The Lydians were among the earli-
est commercial peoples of the Mediterranean, and
their highly scented ointments, elegant carpets and
other fabrics were celebrated, the Greeks describing
them as the inventors of the processes for stamping
coins and dyeing wool. The Homeric poems speak
of the Lydians as men on horseback, clad in armor,
and described their extensive commerce and wealth.
Lydia was rich in the precious metals, and Croesus
had gold mines in many places. This king inherited
enormous treasures and was a mighty monarch, at
the summit of his career ruling over twelve nations,
his vast wealth, which was of such world-wide renown,
being increased by the tribute of conquered races,
the confiscation of great estates, and the prolific yield
of the golden sands of the Pactolus. An idea of its
extent may be got from the votive offerings he de-
posited in the temples. Herodotus wrote that he saw
the ingots of solid gold, six palms long, three broad
and one deep, which, to the number of one hundred

166 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and seventeen, Croesus sent to Delphi. He also be-
held, in other parts of Greece, rich offerings, all in
gold, in various temples, among them the figure of a
lion, the emblem of Lydia, of the natural size ; a wine
bowl of about the same weight as the lion ; a lustral
vase; and the statue of a woman, three cubits high,
said to have been the king's baker. Despite his
wealth and prosperity, however, Crossus got into con-
flict with Cyrus of Persia, who defeated and pursued
him back into Sardis, taking the city, making him a
prisoner, and condemning him to be burnt alive.
His life was ultimately spared, and his territory then
went under Persian rule.

The olden chroniclers say that Sardis was named
after the god of the sea, which was worshipped there.
Few remains now exist of the magnificent palace of
Croesus or other buildings of this once opulent city.
At the side of a steep hill, on which some ruins of
the walls of the Acropolis still stand, are traces of a
theatre and other structures. In the valley are rem-
nants of a gymnasium, and two enormous columns
stand on the Acropolis, with others lying on the
ground, supposed to have been parts of a temple of
Cybele, which Herodotus records as having been
burnt by revolted lonians, when they took the city,
about 500 B. C. Across the valley is the necropolis
of the Lydian kings, prominent among the tombs, and
the largest of all, being that of Alyattes, a circular
mausoleum about 1,140 feet in diameter. This, like

THE LEVANT 167

most of the other tombs, which have been lately ex-
cavated, had been rifled centuries ago. There are
now, amid the remnants of Sardis, a few mud huts,
making the Turkish village of Sart. An earthquake,
in the reign of Tiberius, reduced Sardis to a heap of
ruins. Roman benefactions aided its rebuilding,
and after the Christian era another of the " seven
churches which are in Asia " was founded here, and
both St. Paul and St. John visited the city in their
ministry. In 1402 Sardis was finally destroyed by
Tamerlane. To the northwest, on the road to Per-
gamos, was ancient Thyatira, the location of another
of the " seven churches which are in Asia."

About thirty miles southeast of Sardis, on the
Pactolus, and at the base of Mount Tmolus, is the
Arab town of Ala-Shehr, situate on the caravan route
leading from Smyrna to the interior of Asia Minor,
and having a thriving trade that has attracted a large
population. This place is surrounded by a wall, and
contains many ruins, including numerous churches.
It is the site of the ancient Philadelphia, where was
another of the " seven churches which are in Asia."
Philadelphia was named for King Attalus Philadel-
phus of Pergamos, who founded it on the lower
mountain slopes, most of it being built at consider-
able elevation. This was a volcanic region and sub-
ject to earthquakes, but the city, which was the depot
of an extensive wine district, flourished despite the
earthquakes. Most of the outer wall is standing,

168 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and on the brow of the hill, toward the southwest,
about four hundred feet above the town, were the
stadium, theatre, and, crowning all, the Acropolis.
Its many temples, in the ancient time, gave Philadel-
phia the name of the " Little Athens," but only the
ruins of a single small temple are now visible. Nu-
merous coins, marble fragments and blocks have been
discovered in excavating. Its original inhabitants
were chiefly Greeks from Macedonia, and in the time
of Pliny they still retained their national character.
Following down the Hermus, from Sardis toward
the sea, on the southern bank, about twenty miles from
its mouth, and built on the slope of Mount Sipylus,
is Manissa, a Turkish, city of large population and
considerable trade. A railroad leads from Smyrna
up the Hermus valley and then goes on to Ala-Shehr.
The country around Manissa grows much cotton,
which is the leading export. This city is built on the
site of the ancient Lydian city of Magnesia, and was
noted as the place of the great battle, fought in 190
B. C., in which the Romans defeated Antiochus the
Great of Syria, and became the masters of Lydia.
The Hermus debouches in the Gulf of Smyrna, flow-
ing out through a broad plain, bordered by the mass-
ive Mount Pagos, the head of this gulf making the
most admirable harbor on the Levantine coast. On
the top of the mountain can be seen the castle, with
the ruins of the Acropolis, which was built by
Lysimachus, one of the generals of Alexander the

THE LEVANT 169

Great. That hero himself is said to have ascended to
the mountain top, when on his way from Sardis to
Ephesus, and gazed at the grand view over the plain
and sea, and the ruins of Smyrna, which then spread
at his feet.

The Turkish city of Ismir (Smyrna) expands
broadly over the plain and the hillsides, the capital
of the province of Aidin, having a population ap-
proximating two hundred thousand, half of them
Greeks and about one-fourth Turks. The large pre-
ponderance of Christians causes the Turks to call it
the Giaour city, or the " city of the unbelievers," and,
in fact, it was one of the first places where the Chris-
tian faith was established. Both St. Paul and St.
John preached here, and it was among the " seven
churches which are in Asia," Polycarp, who was a
disciple of St. John, having been consecrated by that
divine as its bishop. During the Roman persecu-
tion of the Christians, in the year 168, Polycarp, then
86 years old, was burnt at the stake in Smyrna.
There are now many churches and mosques in the
city, and it has three archbishops, Greek, Armenian
and Catholic, with also American and foreign mis-
sionary establishments. The harbor is magnificent
and always filled with shipping, as it is a great com-
mercial emporium and port of call for Mediterra-
nean steamship lines, with railroads extended in va-
rious directions into the interior of the country, and
it is also the termination of numerous caravan routes.

170 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The latter, however, are less used than formerly, be-
ing largely superseded by the modern railroads,
though an interesting locality is the so-called " cara-
van bridge," with adjoining grounds, for the accom-
modation of the camels at night. The Christian,
settlements are generally near the shore, with the Ar-
menians on the lower and the Turks on the upper
hill slopes. A medieval castle surmounts Mount
Pagos, and one of the chief buildings of the city is
the palace of the Turkish governor-general. The
[wealthier merchants have built many villas in the
suburbs and outlying villages. Smyrna receives
large amounts of manufactured goods and petroleum
going to the interior, and it exports cotton, figs, rai-
sins, opium, sponges, and other products. The zEoli-
ans were the original colonists at this harbor, and
in the seventh century B. C. Smyrna became one
of the cities of the Ionic League. It was overrun
and destroyed by the Lydian Sadyattes, 627 B. C.,
and for a long time afterward was in ruins. After
the death of Alexander the Great, his successors,
Lysimachus and Antigonus, rebuilt and enlarged the
city, and Smyrna became one of the greatest places
of that time, the prosperity continuing until after
the Christian era. An earthquake destroyed it, 178
A. D., but Marcus Aurelius again rebuilt it. There
were varying fortunes subsequently, and hither came
Richard Coeur de Lion of England and landed part
of his army in the third crusade, 1191. The

THE RUINS OF EPHESUS

Genoese captured and held it for a long time, and it
was taken by the Turks in the later fourteenth cen-
tury. Then Tamerlane got it, but the Turks recov-
ered possession, and have since held it. During the
first half of the nineteenth century Smyrna was re-
peatedly damaged by fire and earthquake, while in
January, 1909, the city and surrounding country
were again shaken, though without serious damage.
Several lives were lost in neighboring towns.

THE EUINS OF EPHESUS.

To the southward of Smyrna, across the peninsula
which is thrust far out into the ^Egean Sea, is the
valley of the. river Cayster. This stream has, near
its mouth, the Turkish port of Skala Nova, upon a
wide bay, and here was the harbor of ancient Ephe-
sus. A railway is constructed southeastward from
Smyrna to Aidin, and thence into the interior, and
upon the route, about forty-seven miles from
Smyrna, are the ruins of the famous city, which had
the renowned Temple of Diana, and also was another
of the " seven churches which are in Asia." St.
John lived at Ephesus, wrote here some of his sacred
epistles, and from here he was sent to Home before
the banishment to Patmos. St. Paul lived three
years in Ephesus, preaching and performing cures
and other miracles. He reasoned with the Jews in
the synagogue, and finally went away, because his
disciples thought it best to do so, after the uproar

172 THE MEDITERRANEAN

raised against him by the silversmiths, who made
their living by selling statuesque models of Diana.
We are told, in The Acts, of one of their demonstra-
tions, where the multitude " with one voice about the
space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the
Ephesians." The ruins of Ephesus are on the south-
ern side of the river, just before it seeks the sea, and
not far from the railroad. The Amazons, in the
legend, are said to have founded Ephesus, and their
story is connected with Diana, its tutelary deity. It
became one of the cities of the Ionian League, Croe-
sus besieged and captured it, and then it passed suc-
cessively under the dominion of Persia, Macedon
and Rome. Ephesus was a large city, the centre of a
great commerce, and the Romans made it the capital
of their proconsular province of Asia. It was the
entrepot of a rich interior territory, and the people,
being mostly Greeks, gave it, through their energy,
great prosperity. Ephesus claimed to be the birth-
place of Homer, and was the home of Herodotus and
other noted Greeks. It has been in ruins for many
centuries, and several small Turkish villages are now
on the site, the most important being the railroad sta-
tion of Ayasalook.

The original Ionian settlers found the worship of
Diana established here, and the foundation of her
temple laid by their predecessors, the Leleges and
Carians; the magnificent temple, which was subse-
quently built, was the chief glory of ancient Ephe-

THE RUINS OF EPHESUS 173

sus; and the city did not fall into decay until the
Goths finally destroyed it. This great temple was
repeatedly enlarged, rebuilt, and seven times restored
in the vicissitudes of Ephesian history. Croesus
built the first and greatest temple, and during the
night, in 356 B. C., on which Alexander the Great
was born, this splendid structure was burnt by one
Erostratus, who, when arrested and put to the tor-
ture, declared he had no other object in doing this
than to immortalize his name. The Ephesians there-
upon passed a decree consigning his name to ob-
livion, but this was in vain, for the historian Theo-
pompus mentioned it in telling the story. The
temple was rebuilt, and Alexander afterward offered
to pay all the expense if he might be permitted to
place his name upon it, but the Ephesians declined,
and the reconstruction was paid for by the people at
large, the work extending over two hundred and
twenty years. It measured 425 by 220 feet, being
four times as large as the Parthenon at Athens and
the largest of the Greek temples; and it had thirty-
six sculptured columns. It was splendidly decorated
with sculptures by Praxiteles, and there was a great
painting by Apelles. The statue of Diana, in that
temple, was of ivory, and provided with exquisitely
wrought golden ornaments. The idea they then had
of Diana, the Grecian Artemis, was that she personi-
fied the fructifying powers of nature, and she was
represented as a goddess with many breasts. This

174 THE MEDITERRANEAN

temple had the right of asylum, which extended to
the land around it, causing the city to be overrun
with criminals, until Augustus curtailed the limits.
It was numbered among the seven wonders of the
world, and was the most notable institution of Ephe-
sus when St. Paul lived there. These seven wonders
were, in addition to Diana's temple at Ephesus, the
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Egyptian Pyra-
mids, the Colossus of Rhodes, the walls and hanging
gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus in the temple
at Olympus, and the Pharos of Alexandria.

In the time of St. Paul the great commerce of the
port of Ephesus attracted many Jews, and this led
the apostle to make his mission to Ephesus and es-
tablish the Christian church. St. John also ad-
dressed to this church one of the messages in the
Apocalypse. The city subsequently became the re-
sort of sorcerers and magicians, and the " Ephesian
letters " were noted magical charms as late as the
sixth century. Several Christian Church Councils
were held here, among the most celebrated being the
Assembly of the Bishops of Asia, convened in 196
A. D., to fix the proper day for the celebration of
Easter. About 260, Ephesus was sacked by the
Goths, who burnt the temple, and it was finally de-
stroyed in the fourth century. Ephesus diminished
in population during the Byzantine period, its port
silted up, and from lack of drainage and cultivation
the neighborhood became unhealthy. Then the

THE RUINS OF EPHESUS 175

Turks attacked it, and for a long time it was alter-
nately in their hands or controlled by their foes until
the fourteenth century, when it fell finally under
Turkish power. The ancient city, by that time, had
almost disappeared, the site of the temple being lost,
and much of the materials of the place having been
carried off for buildings elsewhere, while the allu-
vial soil had gradually covered the locality.

The ruins of Ephesus were partially excavated in
the nineteenth century, the site of the temple found,
and a great amphitheatre uncovered, which was large
enough to accommodate fifty thousand people.
There were numerous fragments of sculpture, and in-
scriptions of the temple and other structures col-
lected, which are preserved in the British Museum.
This work ceased in 1874, and was not renewed un-
til 1904. The later excavations, going much deeper,
disclosed the earlier foundations of two more temples,
below that which had been previously uncovered,
the lowest of these resting on the virgin soil of the
original marsh. This lower temple was Ionian,
and believed to date about 700 B. C. The greater
part of the materials of the temple which followed
the one burnt by Erostratus had disappeared into
the walls of the Turkish villages or into the lime-
kilns in which the vicinity abounds. Much was
found of the precedent temple, built by Croasus, and
this developed that its architecture and workman-
ship were superior to that of its successor, which

176 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Philo had so admired that he called it the " only
house of the gods on earth." Beneath this were dis-
covered the foundations and ground plan of a smaller
temple, of yellow limestone, paved with highly pol-
ished, veined marble. In its centre, as likewise in
its successors, stood the rectangular base that is sup-
posed to have supported the image of the goddess.
This had been enlarged and remodelled by subse-
quent builders, but had never changed its location,
and was the holy place around which one temple after
another was built. The materials were greenish
stone, and the lowest courses were apparently parts of
an earlier temple, the fourth and lowest in the layers,
there being hundreds of small votive objects found
in the very foundations. Over two thousand of these
objects were recovered, including jewels, coins,
scarabs and other pieces, many being of dates ante-
rior to the time of Crossus. They are in the precious
metals, bronze, ivory, glass, terra-cotta, amber,
porcelain, rock-crystal, wood and iron. The ivories
are the best, some being of exquisite workmanship,
statuettes of the goddess, figures of animals, plaques
and trinkets. These treasures have gone to the Brit-
ish Museum and the museum at Constantinople, and
the archaeologists say they are of the earliest Hellenic
workmanship, representing an art in which the god-
dess, to whom they were dedicated, was not given the
semblance of the many-breasted statue of the later
period.

THE RUINS OF EPHESUS 177

Much of the work of excavation at Ephesus, since
1894, has been under Austrian auspices, directed
by the late Professor Otto Benndorf, who died in
January, 1907, and was known as the " Schliemann
of Ephesus." In addition to excavating the temple
were uncovered many other ancient monuments, the
theatre, library, two marketplaces, the chief streets,
and the Baths of Constantine. The interesting
double Church of St. Mary, Mother of God, has also
been cleared out, where was held the famous Church
Council of 431 A. D., which condemned ISTestorius,
and placed the Virgin in the position ever since held
by the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. There
also has been disclosed a splendid semicircular mar-
ble portico around the east side of the ancient harbor.
To the southeast of the site of the ancient city is the
" Grotto of the Seven Sleepers," who are said to have
fled there for refuge from the persecutions of Dio-
cletian, and, falling asleep, awakened two hundred
years later, and came back into the city, to the won-
derment of the public. This tradition was revived
by Mohammed and embodied in the Koran, and the
cave was long a place of pilgrimage for both Moslems
and Christians. The names of the seven sleepers,
and also of the dog, Ketmeh, who slept with them,
were reverenced throughout the Orient as of talis-
manic power. In a locality not far away the tradi-
tion also places the grave of St. John.

VOL. 11—12

178 THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE MEANDER TO TAESUS.

Some distance south of Ephesus there flows out of
the plain of Caria one of the most famous rivers of
the ancient Hellenic world, the Mseander, now
called the Meinder. It rises in the interior of Asia
Minor, in Phrygia, receives its chief tributaries,
known anciently as the Harpasus and Morsyas, and
takes a generally southwestern course through Caria
to the Latmic Bay. The fertile region that it waters
has superabundant soil, which causes it to bring down
immense quantities of mud, gradually filling up the
head of the bay, and thus have been joined several
islands, originally in its delta, to the mainland. The
character of this level fertile plain has also given
the river a winding and wayward course, making it
about three hundred miles long, though accomplish-
ing a much smaller actual distance from its source
to the sea, so that its name has become a synonym
for tortuousness and aimless wandering. It is deep
in parts, but full of shallows and bars, being there-
fore only navigable for small craft. In its upper
valley, in the southwest corner of Phrygia, is the
Turkish town of Eski-Hissar, built on the site of
Laodicea, another of the " seven churches which are
in Asia," an opulent and flourishing city at the time
of. the Christian era, its luxury then being attested
by the stern rebuke administered to its people in the
Apocalypse. Paul also addressed an epistle to the

THE MEANDER TO TARSUS 179

Christians of that city. It was named after Laodice,
the queen of Antiochus Theos, the founder. It grew
in importance, despite frequent damage by earth-
quakes, was controlled by the Greeks, then by Syria,
and afterward by Pergamos, being finally destroyed
in 1402 by Tamerlane. Nearby is Khonos, stand-
ing on the site of Colossse, which Xenophon described
as a large and important city at the close of the fifth
century B. C. It was captured by the Persians, and
Xerxes with his army passed through it on his way
to Greece, 481 B. C. The people were noted for
their product of beautifully dyed wool, sent to all
parts of the then known world. After the reign of
Cyrus it fell into decay. To its church St. Paul ad-
dressed his epistle. Farther down the Masander the
railroad comes over from Smyrna and Ephesus, and
then follows up the river valley. Here is Aidin,
fifty-seven miles southeast from Smyrna, called by
the Turks Guzel Hissar, the " beautiful castle,"
which is the modern trading town of the river, and
has a population of fifty thousand, mostly Turks. It
is in a picturesque situation, having the plateau of
the Messogis for a lovely background, where stood the
ancient city of Tralles, the ruins having provided
much of the building materials for Aidin. There
are numerous mosques and attractive bazaars, with
interesting ruins all about, and the people have an
active trade in cotton, figs and other products of this
fertile district.

180 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The ancient port and fortress of the Mseander, con-
trolling its entrance, was Miletus, that had four har-
bors protected by the outlying group of islands, most
of which the river silt has since joined to the main-
land. The Mycale headland projects, and here at a
promontory, formed by the Grinm range, was this fa-
mous city of the Ionian Confederacy, but it is difficult
now to locate the precise boundaries of the site, owing
to the radical changes the Mseander's generous out-
flow of mud has made in the bay. Miletus controlled
an extensive territory around the bay, and its earli-
est people were Carians, Leleges and Cretans, the
name being derived from Miletus, a Cretan warrior,
the city also having at different times been called
Pityusa and Anactoria. The lonians subsequently
settled here, and made it a great industrial and com-
mercial mart, which in the earlier Grecian history
became a prominent maritime power, extending its
colonies and commerce through the Mediterranean,
the Propontis (Marmora) and the Euxine (Black
Sea). It colonized the Crimea, and also the Egyp-
tian delta, and was the birthplace of the philosophers
Thales and Anaximander and the historians Cadmus
and Hecatseus. Croesus conquered it, and after his
fall the power went to the Persians, but it revolted,
and they destroyed it, 494 B. C., this revolt leading
to the first Persian invasion of Greece. Reviving,
it opposed Alexander, but he captured it, and, 384
B. C., made a new ruin of the place. Then the

THE MEANDER TO TARSUS 181

sovereignty was held by Syria and Rome, and
finally Miletus dwindled into insignificance, under
Byzantine rule, helped by the silting up of the har-
bor, and it was ultimately destroyed by the Turks.
The ruins have been partly excavated, disclosing the
foundations and remains of temples, an aqueduct
and other structures. Various sculptures and
columns of the Temple of Apollo have been recovered
and sent to national museums in Europe.

Penetrating deeply into the coast of Caria, south-
ward from Miletus, and having the island of Cos
off the entrance, is the attractive Ceramic Gulf, and
on its northern shore is the little Turkish town of
Boudroum. The place is surrounded by ruins, and
from these it gets fame, for this was ancient
Halicarnassus, a leading city of the Doric hexapolis.
But it quarrelled with the others, was excluded from
the Confederacy, and was then conquered by Darius.
Artemesia became queen, and she gave it a new
fame. Her husband was Mausolus, who died 352
B. C., and she built over his remains a monument
so beautiful that it still gives the name of mauso-
leum to these memorial structures. Alexander con-
quered and burnt the city, and later it fell to the
Romans, who revived it, but upon the downfall of
the empire it was again destroyed. The Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem, when they occupied
Rhodes in the early fifteenth century, built here a
castle, called the " town of St. Peter," and the

182 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Turks captured it when they took Rhodes from the
Knights, in the sixteenth century. In its halcyon
days Halicarnassus was a great city. Herodotus
and Dionysius, the historians, were born here.
From the edge of the harbor the rows of buildings
were constructed on the hill slopes, rising on ter-
races formed partly by excavating the rocks and
partly by building walls. The Mausoleum crowned
the first terrace, and the Temple of Mars the
second. The entire city was enclosed by a wall,
which still can be traced, and at the upper portion
two citadels occupied the summits of volcanic hills.
Temples of Venus and Mercury were located at the
two extremities of the harbor, and the king had a
spacious palace, while there were other important
structures, with additional temples, dedicated to
various deities. But the most celebrated of all was
the Mausoleum, richly decorated with sculptures,
and numbered among the seven wonders of the
ancient world. It was still standing in the twelfth
century, but was then overthrown by an earthquake,
and the detritus washed down from the hills,
gradually filled the lower parts of the city to the
depth of probably twenty feet, and completely cov-
ered the site. It remained hidden until 1839, when
it was newly discovered, and elaborate excavations,
subsequently made, in 1857, uncovered the Mauso-
leum foundations, and many fragments of sculptures
and statues were obtained and sent to the British

THE MEANDER TO TARSUS 183

Museum, among these being the statue of Mauso-
lus himself, reconstructed out of sixty-three broken
fragments, and made nearly complete. The Mauso-
leum is believed to have been a rectangular
structure, erected on a base of about 472 feet cir-
cumference, the building surrounded by thirty-six
Ionic columns, and surmounted by a pyramid, rising
in twenty-four steps, to a colossal marble cupola,
which supported the statue of Mausolus.

The southern border of the Ceramic Gulf is the
long peninsula of Triopium, and at its extremity
the Dorians built their city of Cnidus, partly on the
mainland and partly on an island, connected by a
causeway, so that it formed two harbors. Here was
the Temple of Venus, which contained the cele-
brated statue of the goddess, by Praxiteles, that at-
tracted visitors from all parts of the Hellenic world.
There were also temples of Apollo and Xeptune. It
was off Cnidus, 394 B. C., that the Athenians de-
feated the- combined Persian and Spartan fleets.
Eudoxus, Ctesias and Sostratus were citizens. It
enjoyed an extensive commerce, but ultimately de-
clined in importance, and gradually fell in ruin, its
interesting remains having recently been extensively
excavated and explored.

The southern coast of Lycia stretches out in the
bold Sacrum Point, beyond which is the broad and
deeply recessed bay of Adalia, that was the ancient
Pamphylicus Sinus. Within it, and upon a good

184 THE MEDITERRANEAN

harbor, is Adalia, the largest town and seaport of
the Asia Minor southern coast, built in the form of
an amphitheatre, upon the hill slopes around the
harbor. A double wall surrounds the city, having
square towers at short intervals. This place en-
joys a good trade in wool, cotton, opium and other
articles, and is the port for the region of Pamphylia
and Pisidia, in the interior, to the northward.
Pamphylia is a long and narrow crescent-shaped dis-
trict, stretching in a strip of about ninety miles, like
an arch, around the Adalian Gulf. Its name came
from the number of different tribes composing the
population, and means " the people of all races."
Its first Greek colonizer was Mopsus, and conse-
quently it was anciently known as Mopsopia. Its
entire background is the massive range of Mount
Taurus, which, at the western end, divides into a
complex system of rugged hills that stretch down to
the coast. This favors the peculiar formation of
much of the surface, making a mass of vegetable
matter, beneath which the mountain torrents, that
are dry for a good part of the year, find their way,
in the rainy season, to the sea. The eastern portion
of Pamphylia is generally flat and sandy. Cyrus
conquered, and then it became part of the kingdom
of Pergamos, ultimately falling under Roman rule,
and following the subsequent fortunes of Asia
Minor. While the southern outflowing streams of
the Mount Taurus range seek the sea, those on its

THE M/EAXDER TO TARSUS 185

northern flanks get no outlet, and form large salt
lakes, of which the chief were called Trogius and
Oarolitis by the ancients. This region, behind the
mountains, is known as Pisidia, its people always
being restless mountaineers and never completely
controlled. In the time of Strabo they got their
subsistence largely by plundering their neighbors,
and they are still a wild and predatory race. Ad-
joining is the district, known as Isauria, whence
came the marauding Isauri, out of its mountain
fastnesses, in the ancient world, to plague the
Greeks and Romans. They also were formidable
during the Byzantine era, and became so powerful
that two of the race, Zeno in the fifth century and
Leo III in the eighth century, were made
emperors at Constantinople. The chief town now
is an aggregation of Arab settlements, Isaura,
on the site of the old capital at the northern base
of the Taurus range. It was a strong and rich city
when the people destroyed it to prevent capture by
the Greeks, after the death of Alexander. In this
remote region, north of the Taurus, was the early
seat of the Hittite civilization. In the winter of
1906—7 the German investigators discovered there,
at Boghazoki, the site of the ancient Hittite strong-
hold Pteria, remains of a Hittite temple and sculp-
tures, with about two thousand tablets, believed to be
the archives of the Hittite government. They in-
clude records of treaties with Egypt, in the time of

186 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Rameses I and II, the latter making an alliance with
the Hittites, about 1200 B. C. This alliance is
recorded in Assyrian characters, a similar tablet in
hieroglyphics having been found at Karnak in
Egypt.

The coast stretches southeastward again, beyond
the Adalian Gulf, and two capes project far into
the sea, Pbsidiun Point and Sarpedon Point, while
on the other side of them is the Gulf of Issus, the
ancient Issius Sinus. Around the shores of this
spacious gulf is the Province of Cilicia. It is a
strip of land extending fully three hundred miles
along the shore and back inland fifty to seventy
miles, the surface sloping from the summit of the
Taurus range toward the sea. Behind this elevated
ridge are Isauria, Lycaonia and Cappadocia, while
a subsidiary ridge of the Anti-Taurus Mountains,
on the eastern boundary, separates Cilicia from
Syria. The rough and unregenerate character of
western Cilicia, where the mountain foothills ap-
proach the coast, caused it to be called anciently
Tracheia meaning " rough," while the eastern por-
tion, mostly a series of fertile plains, was known as
Pedias or " level." Several rivers flow out to the
gulf, and these plains are well watered. The
Cydnus was the most famous of these streams,
rising in the Taurus mountains, and being now called
the Tarsus Tchai. The Sarus, now the Sihun,
comes through a mountain gorge from Cappadocia,

THE ALEAXDER TO TARSUS 187

and the Pyramus, now the Jihim, also breaks
through the mountain barrier, and flows southwest.
All these streams bring down very cold water from
the mountains, and it was in the Cydnus that Alex-
ander the Great took the bath that chilled and nearly
killed him. On this classic stream was also the scene
of the first interview between Antony and Cleopatra,
after Julius Caesar's death. Cilicia was early set-
tled by the Phoenicians, its people being distinguished
for commercial and maritime enterprise. It became
a vassal of Persia, and the Greeks colonized it,
in the time of Alexander, after whose death it was
part of the Syrian .empire. In the first century
B. C., pirates swarmed from its coasts, attacking
the commerce of the Mediterranean, until Pompey
subdued them, thus acquiring Cilicia for the Romans,
during whose dominion Cicero was at one time the
proconsul. The native princes still held out in the
mountain fastnesses until Vespasian's reign. Au-
gustus made it a Roman province, and it went to
Byzantium, and ultimately to the Turks.

The most noted Cilician city was Tarsus, on the
Cydnus, about ten miles inland from the sea. It is
built generally of stone, upon a fertile plain, and
now has a population of about ten thousand. Sar-
danapalus was its founder, and it was captured by
Alexander. When under Syrian rule it became a
leading centre of learning in the East, and so greatly
enlarged its fame and attractions that in the Roman

188 THE MEDITERRANEAN

days it is said to have rivalled Athens. Here was
the birthplace of the Apostle Paul. The leading
Cilician city now is Adana, on the river Sihun,
about twenty-five miles northeast of Tarsus, having
a population of thirty thousand. It commands the
river gorge coming through the Taurus range, and
is well built and attractive. There are various
ancient remains, including an old time castle and
a bridge over the river built by Justinian.
P'ompey is said to have first colonized Adana with
conquered Cilician pirates. At the farther ex-
tremity of the Gulf of Issus, eastward from Adana,
was the ancient town of Issus, its site now being
obliterated. Here was the battlefield where Alex-
ander, 333 B. C., fought and defeated Darius.

The city and province of Adana, in April, 1909,
•were the scene of frightful massacres of the Ar-
menians, instigated from Constantinople, before
the downfall of the Sultan Abdul Hamid, as a part
of the reactionary movement to overcome the Young
Turkish party. The murders and pillage con-
tinued for several days at Adana, Tarsus, Alex-
andretta, Had j in and other places, and great damage
was done by burning large portions of the towns.
Several missionaries, including two Americans,
were among the slain, and the carnage was only
stayed by the direct intervention of the Great
Powers. Various estimates of the loss of life were
made, some as high as 20,000, the Turkish officials

CYPRUS 189

reporting it as 4,000. The outbreaks caused serious
unrest throughout northern Syria and eastern Asia
Minor, several European warships being sent into the
ports for protection. Order was not fully restored
until June.

CYPRUS.

Out in the Mediterranean, off the Cilician coast,
is the most eastern island of the great sea — Cyprus
— stretching one hundred and fifty miles in length,
with a long, high and narrow tongue of land protrud-
ing toward Syria and terminating in Cape St. An-
drea, its extremity being about sixty miles from the
nearest Syrian coast. The northern Cypriote head-
land of Cape Kormakiti is forty-six miles south of
the farthest southern protruding Cape Anamur, in
Cilicia. The island is called by the Turks Kybris,
but they do not number over one-fourth of the pres-
ent population, which is less than three hundred
thousand, most of the others being Greeks. In the
time of its greatest prosperity, under the Venetian
rule, Cyprus was said to have supported a million
people. It has an elevated mountain range on the
northern side, stretching from east to west throughout
the island, the chief summit, the Oros Stavros, or
Mount Troalos, rising 6,595 feet, the ancient name
being Olympus. There is another mountain range on
the southern side, with plains between, called the
Messaria, that give pasture for flocks of sheep and

190 THE MEDITERRANEAN

goats. In the olden time Cyprus had extensive
forests, but these are nearly all gone, so that the
torrential streams of the rainy season, when the
downpour ends, quickly run dry, and the people
suffer severely from drought, having to depend for
water mainly upon cisterns, as nearly all the wells
are brackish. It is an agricultural and pastoral
land, the products being aromatic herbs, dyewoods,
drugs, cotton, carob beans, tobacco, silk, wine and
fruits, all of fine quality. There were anciently
mined precious metals and copper, but this mining
has been neglected. The wines of Cyprus, especially
those from the vineyard called Commanderia, from
having belonged to the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem, gained great celebrity in early times,
producing two millions of gallons annually, but the
present product is barely one-tenth that amount.
Black and red wines are exported to Egypt, which
has always had a close commercial connexion, but
these, being kept in tarred casks, taste strongly of the
tar. The surface of mountain and plain presents
long slopes on the western and southern coasts, with
fertility in the narrow valley bottoms and tracts of
stony pasture on the hill spurs; some carefully pre-
served forests, chiefly pine on the main ridge,
clinging to the mounded summits, where not too
high; the extensive undulating plains of the Mes-
saria; green-covered steeps and buttresses to the
east and north; and, protruding far northeastward,

CYPRUS 191

the long spiky handle made of the high rocky ridges
of the Karpas mountain range, falling off abruptly
at the farther extremity, in stony and scarred
precipices, washed by the sea. Larnaka and Lim-
asol, the ancient Amethus, on the southeastern coast,
are the chief towns. Famagusta, to the eastward,
on the site- of ancient Arsinoe, so famous in the
Venetian time of greatest prosperity, possesses a
good and well-sheltered harbor, long choked up, but
recently deepened to accommodate the larger ships.
The capital is Kicosia, a small town in the interior,
its Turkish name being Lefkosha.

Cyprus is not great to-day, and only occasionally
gets into the blaze of the world's limelight, through
some brief outbreak, but its strategic position gives
it importance, and it has always occupied a dis-
tinguished niche in history, its name meaning the
" Place of Arms." It early belonged to the
Phoenicians of the neighboring Syrian coast, was
afterward colonized by the Greeks, who formed sev-
eral independent kingdoms on the island, and then
passed successively under control of the pharaohs,
Persians, Ptolemies, and Rome, although there was
a brief period of independence, in the fourth
century T5. C. In the pagan era it was one of the
chief seats of the worship of Venus. The best
known of the ancient cities were Citium (from
which came Kittim, the Biblical name of the island),
Salamis, Amathus, Paphos and Soli. Venus, or

192 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Aphrodite, as the Cypriotes knew her, was said to
have been born at old Paphos, rising from the foam
of the sea waves, and she had a great temple in the
ancient city. St. Paul preached at new Paphos, the
more modern city, to the Roman proconsul Sergius.
It was in Cyprus that Venus watched over the long
enchanted sleep of Adonis, and here lived Pygmalion.
Agenor, the king of Phoenicia and Cyprus, was the
son of Neptune, and the mythical legend was told
by Ovid that Agenor's grandson Pygmalion, a
young and romantic sculptor, became so infatuated
with his art, which he felt was above all nature, that
he declared he would never marry a mortal woman.
He carved the ivory statue of a maiden so attrac-
tive that he fell in love with it, and gradually came
to regard it as the perfect ideal of his aspiration.
As he gazed upon the ivory, he viewed it no longer
as a statue, but as a lovely maiden, and he named
her Galatea, arraying her in jewels and adornments,
and finally praying to Aphrodite to give him a per-
fect bride, such as his ivory maiden. The goddess
was complacent, and as Pygmalion touched the
statue's hand it yielded as if of flesh, and then he
kissed her, when in an instant her face became life-
like, she awakened, smiled, and stepped down from
the pedestal into the arms of her lover. They were
married, and their son Paphos, in gratitude to
Aphrodite, founded the city, which was named for
him, on the site of the birthplace of the goddess.

CYPRUS 193

When the Crusaders got possession of Cyprus they
detached it from the Greek empire, and made a
kingdom of Cyprus for Guy of Lusignan. From
his descendants it was inherited by the Venetians,
and in 1570, after a brave defence, was captured
by the Turks. In the early nineteenth century the
Viceroy of Egypt governed it under Turkish
suzerainty, and in 1878 control was assumed by
England. The history and antiquities of Cyprus
have been much studied, and largely through the
discoveries made by General de Cesnola, when
American consul, whose valuable and extensive col-
lections are now in the New York Metropolitan
Museum. The English control of Cyprus followed
the Russo-Turkish war. After the memorable siege
and battle of Plevna, the victorious Russian troops
marched toward Constantinople, bent on its capture,
but friendship for the Turkish sultan led England
to bar the way, and to British influence was due the
Berlin conference, which prevented Russia driving
the sultan out of Europe. In return for this serv-
ice he granted England various concessions along
the Red Sea and the control of Cyprus, for an an-
nual subsidy of £92,686, which is not actually paid,
but is retained fo satisfy various British claims.
Cyprus was given a new constitution in 1882, with
England in full control, as the island commands the
route to the Suez Canal and the eastern Mediter-
ranean.

VOL. 11—13

194 THE MEDITERRANEAN"

THE ISLE OF RHODES.

The great sentinel outpost of Asia Minor, look-
ing upon the sea off its southwestern angle, and
separated from the mainland only by a channel
barely two miles wide, is the famous Isle of Rhodes,
its name being derived from a Greek word meaning
" a rose." Pindar tells the legend that this island
was raised from the depths of the sea by Helios, the
sun god, who was its ancient tutelary deity and
whose image was stamped upon the old-time
Rhodian coins, accompanied by a representation of
the rose. Rhodes has the most charming sea of
deepest blue all around it, and its best present fame
comes from the unsurpassed scenic attractions and
the delicious enjoyment of what is regarded as the
finest climate in the Mediterranean. The island
now has a population of about forty thousand Greeks,
ruled by a Turkish pasha, who " farms " the
revenues, including the taxes of some of the neigh-
boring Sporades. It is shaped like a long ellipse,
stretching nearly southward, with a surface of about
four hundred and fifty square miles, and having a
mountain ridge extending through it, of which the
highest summit, Artamiti, the ancient Atabyris,
rises 6,000 feet. The flanks of the ridge enclose
well-watered and fertile valleys, but the cultivation
is only indifferent, some cotton being grown, and
a tract of low hills, adjoining the coast, still

THE ISLE OF RHODES 195

producing the perfumed wine, for which the island
was formerly celebrated. There are exports of
marble, coral, leather, sponges and fruits. The
earliest settlers were Dorians, and it originally had
three cities, Lindus, lalysus and Camirus, which
joined with Cos, Halicarnassus and Cnidus in mak-
ing the Doric hexapolis. It became an important
station of the original commerce of the Phoenicians,
and grew to great prosperity, sending out, through
its Mediterranean trading expeditions, colonies to
Italy, Sicily and Spain. The Khodian laws upon
maritime affairs were considered the best in an-
tiquity, and they contributed to the formation of
the Roman code. In 408 B. C. its cities joined
in building the new city of Rhodes, on the principal
harbor, at the northeastern extremity of the island,
facing the mainland, and this ancient city was made
the capital. It then was Grecian, but, after the
death of Alexander the Great, expelled the Mace-
donian rulers and, becoming an independent sov-
ereignty, began a most glorious epoch. It entered
into alliance with Rome, then overshadowing the
Orient, and was very powerful, ruling all the neigh-
boring regions.

Strabo described this ancient capital of Rhodes
as superior to all other cities then existing, in the
beauty and convenience of its ports, streets, walls
and public edifices, all of them profusely decorated
with works of art. There were said to have been

196 THE MEDITERRANEAN

fully three thousand statues in the city. It was
built upon an amphitheatre of hills, sloping down
to the shores of the bay, enclosed between two capes.
The splendid docks, magnificent palaces, and stately
temples, renowned throughout the Mediterranean,
and, above all, the stupendous " Colossus," which was
among the seven wonders of the world, and guarded
the harbor entrance, brought here admiring tourists
from all other lands. This was designed and built
by Chares of Lindus, and was a brazen statue of
Apollo, over one hundred feet high, and hollow, con-
taining 'a winding staircase that ascended to the
head. The statue stood for over half a century, but
was thrown down by the great earthquake which
engulfed Rhodes, in the height of its prosperity, 224
B. C. This cataclysm destroyed the city, and
brought masses of rocks and debris up out of the
sea, so large that they formed new islands, which
afterward were inhabited.

The Rhodians were almost ruined by the earth-
quake, but they did not despair. News of the
catastrophe spread to all the communities of Europe
and Asia, with which they were in such close com-
mercial relation, and then, as in more recent dis-
asters, there were sent enormous relief contributions.
Gelon and Hieron, kings of Sicily, sent ships laden
with food, wine and oil, and seventy-five golden
talents, the value of a talent being then nearly
$1,000, but its purchasing power ten times greater

THE ISLE OF RHODES 197

than now. Ptolemy of Egypt sent three hundred
talents of silver, ships laden with timber for build-
ing, a million measures of flour, and six stout
triremes ready for trading voyages. Antigonus of
Babylon sent a hundred talents of silver, three
thousand talents of iron, and much pitch and lead,
with other supplies, besides keeping caravans for a
year on the routes to the Mediterranean, where the
materials could be shipped to the stricken city. He
also ordered the free entry of all Rhodian ships into
the ports of his kingdom. For over a year the
fleets of all nations were in and about the harbor
of Rhodes, supplying the populace, when they were
rebuilding, and every country relieved the Rhodian
commerce of dues while they were in distress. The
city of Syracuse, another of the great Greek ports,
erected two large statues in the marketplace of
Rhodes to typify the courage of its merchants.
The generous contributions of fleets of triremes soon
put Rhodes ahead again in commercial rivalry.
The huge " Colossus," after laying nine centuries on
the ground, was finally sold by the Saracens, in the
seventh century, when they captured Rhodes. There
were about nine hundred camels employed in re-
moving the metal, which it was estimated weighed
nearly four hundred tons.

The decadence of ancient Rhodes came after the
death of Julius Caesar, whose cause it had espoused.
It was captured and plundered by Cassius, 42 B. C.,

198 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and declined in political power, but continued long
as a seat of learning. It successively fell into the
hands of the Saracenic caliphs, the Crusaders and the
Genoese. In 1309, when the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem had to leave Palestine, they landed at
Rhodes, and under their Grand Master Foulque de
Villaret, vanquished both the Moslems and the
Greeks, and became rulers of the island, which they
held for two centuries. In 1522 the Moslems de-
termined to recapture it, and Solyman the Magnifi-
cent sent an army of 210,000 men for the attack.
The Grand Master, at the time, was the famous
Villicas de 1'Isle Adam, and he had a garrison of
only six thousand. There was a long siege, many
assaults, and a most heroic defence, but the city had
to capitulate in October, and the Turks have held
it ever since. The brave survivors of the defenders
were allowed to leave, and they ultimately settled at
Malta, where their successors, known as the Knights
of Malta, achieved great renown.

Rhodes, in recent times, has suffered severely from
disasters, particularly the earthquake of April 22,
1863, which did great damage and killed thousands.
The present city has about twenty thousand people,
its buildings rising in the amphitheatre of hills, and
surrounded by the old walls and towers, mostly built
by the Knights. A narrow quay, running obliquely
into the bay, divides the harbor, while up on the
hill are the remnants of the venerable palace of the

THE ISLE OF RHODES 199

Grand Master, dominating the city. This was a
large and handsome structure, overlooking the har-
bor, and the distant horizon beyond the sea, the bold
coast of Asia Minor, ten miles away. The palace
was greatly damaged by the explosion of its powder
magazine in 1856, and the earthquake of 1863 al-
most destroyed it, as well as the adjacent Church
of St. John, which was then a mosque. There still
survive some of the residences of the Knights, on
the long and straight main street, called the Street
of the Knights, and of the castle, which was sur-
rounded by a moat, and built massive, spacious and
strong, and contained their cloisters. The famous
Isle of Rhodes, all around its coasts, is washed by
the waters of the beautiful ^Egean, that it controlled
for so many centuries. Lord Byron, who was one
of the greatest admirers of this splendid sea, thus
gives it his magical word painting in the Corsair:

Again the ^gean, heard no more afar,
Lulls his chafed breast from elemental war;
Again his waves in milder tints unfold
Their long array of sapphire and of gold,
Mix'd with the shades of many a distant isle
That frown — where gentler ocean seems to smile.

THE GOLDEN HORN

Turkish Lady..

XI
THE GOLDEN HORN

The Dardanelles — Abydos — Sestos — Hero and Leander — Gallip-
oli — Dardanus — The Four Castles — Sea of Marmora — The
Bosporus — The Euxine — Byzantium — The Golden Horn —
Constantinople — Mohammed II — Stamboul — Yadi Kule —
Scutari — Seraglio — The Sublime Porte — Galata — Pera —
Therapia — The Sweet Waters — The Streets and Buildings —
The Dogs — The People — Agia Sophia — Other Mosques —
Othman — Solyman — Ahmed — The At Meidan — Mahmoud II-
— The Janizaries — The Treasury — Dolmah Bagcheh Palace —
The Bazaars — Abdul Hamid II — Mohammed V — The Yildiz
Kiosk — The Selamlik — The Cemeteries — The Cypress.

THE DARDANELLES.

From the northern extremity of the ^Egean Sea
the famous strait of the Dardanelles extends forty-
five miles northeast to the Sea of Marmora, the
ancient Propontis. It was originally known as the
Hellespontis, whence came the name of the Helles-
pont — the " sea of Helle." This young princess
was the daughter of Athanias, king of Thebes.
When her brother Phixus was about to be sacri-
ficed their mother Nephele rescued him, and, re-
ceiving from Mercury the ram with the Golden
Fleece, placed the two children on his back, where
upon the ram ran off to Colchis, at the farther end
203

201 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of the Euxine (Black Sea) in Asia. Helle un-
fortunately fell into the Hellespont, in crossing, and
the strait was named after her. It was to capture
this Golden Fleece that Jason and his Argonauts
sailed on their adventurous expedition. At the
narrowest part of the Hellespont entrance, in old
times, were Abydos and Sestos. A low strip of
land projects on either hand, and upon each strip
there was a city. Abydos, on the Asian shore, was
originally the possession of the Trojan prince Asius,
and afterward was occupied by the Thracians and
Milesians. In 430 B. C. Xerxes built a bridge
across the strait, over which his army passed for
the Grecian invasion. Sestos opposite, and about
one mile distant, was the principal city of the
Thracian Chersonesus. It was never populous, but
its strategic position was important. From Sestos
the army of Alexander the Great sailed on his
career of conquest in Asia. The site is now called
Yalova, and its most enduring fame comes from the
romantic story of Hero and Leander. Hero was a
priestess in the Temple of Yenus, at Sestos, and it
was the custom of Leander to swim across the Hel-
lespont to visit her. One tempestuous night he was
drowned, and the billows next morning cast his
lifeless body ashore. When the despairing Hero be-
held it she threw herself into the sea. On March
8, 1810, in imitation of Leander, Lord Byron swam
across the Hellespont, with a companion, accomplish-

THE DARDANELLES 205

ing the feat in seventy minutes. Gallipoli, now the
port of the Hellespont, is within the strait, some
distance northeast of the entrance, unattractive, but
having considerable population and large bazaars
well supplied with goods. It was formerly well
fortified, and there are abundant relics of the Roman
and Byzantine rule, with numerous mosques and
fountains, and considerable manufacturing of cot-
ton, silk and leather. It has two good harbors and
is a rendezvous for the Turkish fleets.

On the Asian shore of the strait there formerly
existed the town of Dardanus, named for an an-
cestor of the Trojans, and from this is supposed
to be derived the modern title of the Dardanelles,
by which th'e strait is known. These Dardanelles
are in reality the four castles, situated on the oppo-
site shores, defending the entrance from the ^Egean
Sea. One of them occupies the promontory of the
ancient town, which Pliny called Dardenia, to which
came the early Trojan hero. He was a king of
Arcadia, who migrated from that country to Sam-
othrace, and not liking the island, sought a home on
the more attractive shore of the strait. These
castles are the Turkish strongholds, controlling the
entrance and access to Constantinople, but warships
have several times passed them without serious in-
jury. The two outer castles are Koum Kale or
Hissar Sultani on the Asiatic side, and Sed-il-Bahr
on the European shore. They were built by

206 THE MEDITERKANEAN

Mohammed IV, in 1659, to secure his fleet against
the Venetians, who used to attack it in actual sight
of the inner and older castles. They are of an
obsolete type, but kept in good repair, though in-
efficient, as here the channel is nearly five miles
wide. The two older castles are Tehanak Kalesi,
or Kale Sultanieh, in Asia, and Kilid Bahr, in
Europe, commanding the strait inside, at a point
where the width is not a half-mile, and the passage
may readily be closed by chains and mines. The
principal defences are on the European side, being
two excellent coast batteries. The forts are all
mounted with guns of the largest calibre and
modern construction, and their batteries are in turn
commanded by high hills in the rear. Close to the
older European castle is the barrow of Hecuba,
where the Athenians, 411 B. C., erected a trophy.
It was near Kilid Bahr, in 1357, that Solyman
planted the crescent for the second time in Europe,
the Ottoman empire afterward having a wonderful
growth, through its conquests. Turkey always
claims that no foreign war vessel should be allowed
to pass the Dardanelles, as this is the entrance to a
closed sea.

THE BOSPORUS.

After sailing through the Dardanelles, the sloping
and sinuous shores presenting constant scenes of
rural beauty and many towns and villas, the steamer

THE BOSPORUS 207

from the ^Egean emerges in the Sea of Marmora,
at its southwestern extremity. This sea obtains its
name from the mountainous and barren island of
Marmora, the ancient Proconnessus, which the
Turks call Marmor Adony, the title coming from
its noted quarries of fine marble, which provide the
chief supply for Constantinople. Skirting along the
distant northern shore, a sail of over a hundred
miles eastward brings the vessel to the northeastern
verge of the sea and the entrance to the Bosporus.
This strait, about sixteen miles long, connects Mar-
mora with the Black Sea. Its name comes from a
Greek word meaning the " ox-ford " and the Turks
call it Istambul Boghaz, or the " Strait of Stamboul."
The original source of the name Bosporus is believed
to be the legend of lo, the nymph, who, after being
metamorphosed into a heifer, passed over the strait.
It varies in width from one-half to two miles, the
narrowest part being in the centre, where the sur-
face current is usually very strong, setting out of the
Black Sea, while there is a constant under current
in the opposite direction. The shores are generally
steep, the cliffs and glens being studded with ruins
of all ages, having interspersed the gayer buildings
of modern times.

According to tradition, confirmed by the geologists,
this Bosporus Strait seems to have been formed by
the bursting of the barriers holding back the waters
of the Black Sea, which originally had a higher level,

208 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and covered a much larger surface than now. It
was formerly a closed sea, so declared both by
Turkish and Russian edicts, but since the Crimean
War it has by later treaties been thrown open to
the commerce of all nations. The Black Sea was
anciently the Pontus Euxinus, the " hospitable sea."
Its large accessions of fresh water from the Danube,
the Don, and other great rivers not only make it
less salty than the Mediterranean, but also produce
very strong currents that set with more or less
directness toward the Bosporus. Until the route to
India, around the Cape of Good Hope, was discov-
ered, the Bosporus and Black Sea were the highway
of the Genoese and other trade with the Indies and
Central Asia. Upon the Bosporus shores, at the
narrowest part, near the centre, are the famous
castles of Asia and Europe erected by the Ottoman
sultans for the purpose of controlling the strait,
when they overran the Byzantine empire, before the
capture of Constantinople. Anatoli Hissar was
built by Sultan Mohammed I on the Asiatic shore,
and Rum Hi Hissar, on the European side, was
a later construction by Mohammed II, in 1451,
when he was contemplating an attack on that city.

THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL.

The historian Gibbon has written that the site
of Constantinople was " formed by nature for the
centre and capital of a great monarchy." It stands

Bosphorus; View of Shores of Asia and Europe.

THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL 209

upon a promontory, projecting, as a triangular
peninsula, on the European side of the Bosporus.
The sea of Marmora washes this upon the south, and
the Golden Horn, the harbor of the city, is upon the
north. The Bosporus is indented northward, in
front, and then bends northeastward toward the
Black Sea. Something over a mile, within the
Bosporus entrance, the Golden Horn goes in west-
ward behind the promontory, and then gracefully
curves around to the northwest, for over four miles.
This crescent-shaped and amply protected harbor,
which now has on its shores, in Constantinople and
the suburbs, a population of 1,200,000, early at-
tracted settlers, and the wealth of its commerce, with
its shape, soon got for it the name of the Golden
Horn. It extends inland among the hills to where
the heights on either side seem to form a vast
amphitheatre, and there receives the waters of two
streams, the Cydaris and Barbysus of the ancients,
the " two whelps of the oracle." Strabo says it is
like " a stag's horn, for it is broken into wavy
creeks, like so many branches, into which the fish
polamys running is easily snared."

Bles't they who make that sacred town their home,
By Pontus' mouth upon the shore of Thrace,

There where two whelps lap up the ocean foam,
Where hind and fish find pasture at one place.

As early as the seventh century B. C. the

Megarians colonized this peninsular promontory,
VOL. 11—14

210 THE MEDITERRANEAN

building their Acropolis on the highest elevation,
attracted by the trade between the Euxine, Greece
and Egypt, passing through the strait; and the set-
tlement became known as Byzantium. It was
destroyed by the Persians under Darius, but was re-
colonized by the Greeks, in the fifth century B. C.,
and grew to great commercial importance. As the
various Greek nations quarrelled with each other,
so they contended for its possession, and in turn
Alcibiades, Lysander, Thrasybulus and Phocion
controlled it, and it successfully resisted the attack
by Philip of Macedon. During the progress of this
great siege we are told that the dogs barked and
the moon suddenly burst through the clouds, just
when an assault was to be made under cover of the
darkness, and the quick flash of light disclosing the
enemy, who were repulsed, the defenders, in grati-
tude, gave the dogs immunity and worshipped the
moon as a tutelary deity, taking as their device
the crescent and star, which were thereafter
stamped upon the Byzantine coins. When the
Turks got possession in the fifteenth century they
adopted this symbol as their national emblem. The
city grew in prosperity and magnificence under the
Greeks, attracting the commerce of all the ancient
world, Alexander the Great ultimately getting con-
trol, at the height of its successful career.

After the dissolution of Alexander's empire va-
rious barbarians made incursions upon Byzantium,

THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL 211

the Greeks exacting a tribute which caused the peo-
ple to levy a toll upon all vessels passing through the
Bosporus. This brought on a war with the island
of Rhodes and its allies, and they succeeded in hav-
ing the toll removed. Byzantium entered into alli-
ance with Rome, but siding against Severus, in one
of the many Roman civil wars, was besieged by him
for three years, reduced by famine and captured, the
chief citizens being put to death and the massive
walls thrown down. Subsequently it regained pros-
perity, but in the war between Constantine and Licin-
ius became the latter's last refuge, Constantine
ultimately being the captor. The great Roman em-
peror was so charmed with its position, capabilities,
and trade that he resolved to build a new city on
the site, intending it to cover seven hills, like Rome,
and make it the capital of the Roman empire, giving
it his own name.

Byzantium, in the year 330 A. D., thus became
merged in the new city of Constantine — Constanti-
nople — and the Byzantine empire was founded,
which continued its existence more than a thousand
years. In 413 the greater part of the city was de-
stroyed by an earthquake, but it recovered, and Mo-
hammed, the prophet, when he began the religious
crusade of Islam, proclaimed a holy war against Con-
stantinople, as the great stronghold of the infidels,
which was vigorously prosecuted by his successors.
The Moslems besieged it in 668, and made several at-

212 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tacks between 672 and 679, again besieging in 717
and 782, but being always repulsed. Constantinople
afterward grew to enormous size, spreading on both
sides of the Bosporus and northward of the Golden
Horn, with a million population, and its enlarge-
ment being attested by the fact that in the eighth
century a pestilence destroyed over 300,000 of the
people. It was under control of the Crusaders sub-
sequently, and the Venetians and Genoese, in their
Mediterranean rivalry, struggled for its supremacy,
while, as early as the ninth century, the Russians
began attacking and intriguing for its mastery, which
has been continued ever since. Throughout the mid-
dle ages it withstood many sieges by Russians, Bul-
garians, Saracens, Turks and others, finally
succumbing, in 1453, to the resistless advance of the
Ottoman power. For a long time the conquering
hosts of Islam had been extending their control on
both sides of the Bosporus, and they gradually over-
ran most of the Byzantine empire, ultimately making
their capital at Adrianople, northwest of Constanti-
nople. The ablest of the Turkish sultans, Moham-
med II, known as the " Great " and the " Victori-
ous," who was born in 1430, succeeded his father on
the throne in 1451, and at once began planning its
capture. He invested Constantinople, April 6, 1453,
with a large fleet and an army of 250,000 men, the
city having, as its only help, a small reinforcement
sent by the Genoese. The Turks at first had little

THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL 213

success, being unable to breach the walls or break the
chain closing the harbor entrance, but the sultan
had his ships laboriously carried on rollers for ten
miles over the land, and launched on the upper waters
of the Golden Horn. There were constant conflicts
and a brave defence, but after fifty-three days' siege,
the walls were stormed May 29, 1453, and Constanti-
nople fell.

Then came a saturnalia, the city for three days
being given up to pillage and massacre. Constan-
tine XIII, the last Byzantine emperor, died heroic-
ally in the final breach of the walls, defending his
people. His body was discovered under a heap of
the slain, being recognized by the golden eagles em-
broidered on his shoes. The head was cut off, and
taken to Mohammed as a trophy, and the tradition
is, that while the body was given an honorable burial,
the head was sent throughout Persia and Arabia on
exhibition. Most of the people of the city were sold
into slavery. This ended the Byzantine empire,
with the downfall of its capital, but the city was
destined to rise again. Like Constantine, Moham-
med was charmed with the situation and capabilities
of the place, and determined to make Constantinople
the Ottoman capital. He adopted a policy of mod-
eration, took the Byzantine crescent and star for the
Turkish national emblem, proclaimed religious toler-
ation, and granted various privileges to the inhabi-
tants. Mohammed subsequently made further great

214 THE MEDITERRANEAN

conquests, acquiring control of the Grecian Morea
and islands of the archipelago. He died at Scutari
in May, 1481, it was said by poison, and he is glori-
fied in Moslem annals as the " Victorious," having
conquered two empires, twelve kingdoms, and two
hundred cities. The Moslem capture of Constanti-
nople, in 1453, was regarded as a great blow through-
out Christendom, and when Halley's comet came
in 1456, with a most tremendous apparition, extend-
ing sixty degrees across the heavens, the two events
were coupled and caused much fear. Pope Calixtus
III, whose brief pontificate, ending in 1458, was
occupied in desperate but fruitless efforts to get the
rulers of Europe to cease quarrelling and unite
against the enemy of their religion, is said by tradi-
tion to have issued the famous " Bull against the
Comet," whence comes the saying : " Lord save us
from the Devil, the Turk and the Comet."

APPROACH TO CONSTANTINOPLE.

The steamer on the Marmora Sea, in the after-
noon, approaches the promontory on the western side
of the entrance to the Bosporus, covered by the build-
ings and gardens of the oldest part of Constantinople.
A smoky haze hangs over the blue hills, and the many
domes and minarets, at first appearing dim and dis-
tant in their cloud-like covering, but afterward com-
ing out more plainly to the nearer view. This is
Stamboul, or " the city of Islam," the oldest part

APPROACH TO CONSTANTINOPLE 215

of the capital, occupying the site of ancient Byzan-
tium. There rise up, amid the gardens and build-
ings, the domes and minarets of many mosques,
groups of tall cypresses, and the terraced roofs of
oriental houses. Most prominently seen are the
dome and six slender minarets of the Mosque of
Ahmed on the hill slope, having behind it the dome
and four minarets of the famous Agia Sophia, which
•was originally Justinian's Cathedral Christian
Church of St. Sophia. There are the Mosque
Sulimoniye, founded by Solyman the Magnificent,
and various others, with a maze of buildings and
foliage massed on the sides and tops of the sloping
hills. Over to the left the city wall comes down
to the only remaining castle, the Yadi Kule, the
" Castle of the Seven Towers," the fortress on the
ridge that guarded the sea-end of the walls, and is
now beautiful in ruin, with ivy clustering about the
towers and along the old walls. These walls, single
on the sea side, are of triple thickness as they cross
far over the land, northward to the Golden Horn,
the stout defence of the ancient city, strengthened at
intervals by towers, and having twenty-seven gates,
as they extend all around the old city. Plans are
formed for removing at least a part of these ancient
walls, so as to modernize and beautify the city. The
moat is alongside, but long ago fell into disuse, and
is now chiefly planted with vegetable gardens. This
" Castle of the Seven Towers " was the frowning

216 THE MEDITERRANEAN

citadel of Constantinople, and afterward became a
state prison, where ferocious sultans were wont to
confine the ambassadors of countries against which
war was declared, so that they might not suffer harm
nor conduct intrigue. Here, in turn, were seven
sultans imprisoned when the relentless and powerful
Janizaries held sway. Many tragic tales are told
of the dark dungeons in these old towers, while the
broad-topped keep gives a good outlook over the sea,
and on a clear day one can see distant Mount
Olympus.

The steamer rounds the end of the promontory
into the Bosporus, and over on the opposite Asian
shore spreads far away, on the bank and up the hill
slopes, the town of Scutari, its windows blazing back
gorgeous reflections of the declining western sunlight,
and the rows of tiled roof houses standing up with
great distinctness. The large square building of
the military barracks is conspicuous, while nearer
to the shore is the noted hospital where Florence
Nightingale nursed the English soldiers during the
Crimean War, and acquired undying fame. All
about are dotted clumps of the sombre cypress.
Scutari stands on the site of ancient Chrysopolis.
Upon the European side of the Bosporus the marble
palaces and villas along the water's edge gleam
white against the blueness of the hills, while the high
Seraglio Point, a romantic intermingling of domes,
buildings and trees, extends for over a mile north-

APPROACH TO CONSTANTINOPLE 217

ward along the shore, thus boldly terminating the
promontory of Stamboul. This Seraglio, where was
the ancient Acropolis, is the Serai Humayun, a
walled city of itself, having a circumference of two
miles, formerly the residence of the sultan until he
was driven out by a great fire, which partly destroyed
it in the last century. It was then inhabited by
about six thousand persons connected with the court,
and its wall encloses mosques, dwelling houses, baths,
gardens, the arsenal, mint and treasury. Along the
whole Bosporus front is a quay, outside the sea-wall,
and on this were anciently mounted cannon for the
defence of the Seraglio. Several gates are in the
wall, and among them the chief and great gate of
the Seraglio is the Bab-i-Humayun, the Imperial
Gate, or " Sublime Porte," from which came the
diplomatic designation of the Turkish government,
as it led to the grand vizier's office and those of
other high functionaries inside the wall. This gate,
which was greatly damaged by the fire, was formerly
kept by a corps of fifty porters. -In the olden time
there were piled up on the side, without the gate,
pyramids of heads, which were trophys of victory
over Christian foes or Greek or Servian rebels, the
bleached skulls being ghastly relics of Moslem vic-
tories. The first Seraglio, the Eski Serai, estab-
lished by Mohammed II, is on a high hill in the
centre of Stamboul, and is three-quarters of a mile
in circumference, being now the war office, and its

218 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tower a fire alarm station. The old sultan, Abdul
Aziz, when he abandoned the Seraglio after the fire,
made his home at the palace of Dolmah Bageheh, up
the Bosporus, and upon his deposition, May 30,
18 76', when his harem was removed, there were fifty-
two boatloads of his wives and their attendants taken
out of the palace. Abdul Aziz allowed his ministers
to commit the greatest excesses, and was deposed
by a successful conspiracy, being killed June 4, 1876,
by being mysteriously stabbed with scissors.

Behind the Seraglio Point comes out the crescent-
shaped arm of the Golden Horn, dividing old Stam-
boul from the commercial town of Galata, on its
northern shore. Galata is a busy place, its fronting
quay lined by warehouses and merchants' stores, and
behind is the long winding main street constantly
filled by a motley crowd. Galata was originally a
colony of Genoese traders, being built by them, and
is still practically enclosed by their old wall and
moat, of nearly a mile and a half in circumference.
Above, on the hillbrow to the northward, is the mod-
ern town of Pera, the Greek Persea, meaning " the
region over the water," containing fine residences,
the hotels and the best of the newer stores. The
chief memory of the Genoese is the huge round
tower rising on the hill summit, 140 feet high, built
for defence and as a watch-tower. From the top
there is an admirable view over the city, and it is
now used as a fire lookout station to give the alarms.

APPROACH TO CONSTANTINOPLE 219

Constantinople has suffered from many serious fires,
the latest, in the summer of 1908, in Stamboul, burn-
ing over two thousand buildings, seven lives being
lost. The Golden Horn is filled with vessels, and is
the main harbor, but disappoints the visitor on ac-
count of its pollution by the sewage of the city as
much as the Bosporus delights. An immense num-
ber of graceful caiques, the gondolas of Constanti-
nople, flit over the waters and cross to and from the
Scutari shore. The Golden Horn is less than a half-
mile wide, and two bridges cross it between Stamboul
and Galata, displaying crowded processions of hu-
manity. A beautiful white mosque, with minarets,
is at the water's edge in Galata, fronting the Bos-
porus, and near it is the almost dazzling white
Dolmah Bagcheh Palace, the residence of the present
Sultan, Mohammed V. In the distance, on the Pera
heights, stands out the Palace of the Yildiz Kiosk,
where the late Sultan Abdul Hamid lived before his
downfall. In the Golden Horn and the Bosporus
there is anchorage room for thousands of vessels.
Over in front of Scutari is the old time Leander's
Tower, rising near the shore, called by the Turks
Kiss Koulessi, or the Maiden's Tower. Beyond, the
city gradually dissolves into suburban scenes, and
here, along the bold shore, is the fashionable resort
of Therapia, with lovely villas and groves of cypress.
About eight miles from Constantinople a cluster of
buildings on the high bank has the American flag

220 THE MEDITERRANEAN

floating over them, the Kobert College, founded by a
citizen of New York. Just beyond are the Castles
of Europe and Asia, which originally enabled the
sultans to control the strait, and here Darius is said
to have crossed, on a bridge of boats, when he in-
vaded Greece. Here also the Crusaders crossed east-
ward on their march to the Holy Land.

THE SWEET WATEBS.

On both sides of the Bosporus are the " Sweet
Waters." Upon a wide terrace, at Scutari, is the
copious fountain of the " Sweet Waters of Asia,"
shaded by trees, and in an open space which is a pop-
ular resort. This is the name given by the Turks
to distinguish fresh water from the salt sea water.
At the head of the Golden Horn the chief stream
that flows into it is known as the " Sweet Waters
of Europe." Here in the suburb of Eyoub, famed
for its mosque and cemetery, is almost the only park
the Constantinople people have, excepting the ceme-
teries, which are filled with gravestones carved with
fez or turban, under the cypress trees, and are ex-
tensively used for recreation. In the green valley
of the " Sweet Waters of Europe," where sycamores
and willows line the banks of the brook, the Turkish
women gather, especially on Friday afternoon, and
closely covered with their large white enveloping
veils, recline on mats stretched by the water's edge.
The observer cannot fail to see, however, that the veil

Gateway of the Imperial Palace of the Sweet
Waters of Asia.

THE SWEET WATERS 221

is not always a perfect concealment, being occasion-
ally lifted, when the face may be comely and the eye
lustrous. These " Sweet Waters," however, soon be-
come defiled, when they flow along into the Golden
Horn.

The favorable impression made by the picturesque
aspect of Constantinople and its beautiful shores is
dissipated upon landing. The streets are generally
crooked, narrow, and dirty, and the ordinary build-
ings mostly of wood, and dilapidated, though several
large fires that occurred during the nineteenth cen-
tury resulted in improvements in some sections, both
in the streets and houses. The old city is about
twelve miles in circumference, and the irregularity
of its ancient streets defies all attempts to find one's
way without a guide. They are badly paved, poorly
lighted, and the haunt of thousands of homeless dogs,
while beggars infest every public place, especially
where visitors resort. The dogs, having been given
immunity long centuries ago, wander at will. They
are the city scavengers, who dispose of the garbage,
which is thrown into the streets for their delectation.
Excepting when they are growling and fighting for
this, they are usually curled up asleep, are rarely
seen on the alert, and many of them hobble about
with damaged limbs, from having been run ovei1
by passing vehicles. Most of them seem half starved,
as the supply of garbage is rarely sufficient to feed
the multitude. Nobody molests them, excepting the

222 THE MEDITERRANEAN

two-footed scavenger, who wanders around with a
long iron hook, to rake over the garbage heaps for
bones and other prizes, and the dogs regard him as a
detested rival, but keep out of reach of the hook.
Their prevalent color is a tawny dull yellow, and
they usually have sharp noses, bushy tails and long
hair, though it is rarely long enough to make a
shaggy coat. Their look is rather wolfish, but
they are sneaks rather than bold animals. There are
a few black and white dogs, some that are shaggy,
some very small, and many puppies. These dogs
seem to have a police idea, for they drive strange
dogs out of their wonted localities. Though some
of the dogs are always barking and howling, yet no-
body seems to notice them. The Moslem's favorite
word of derision is to call his enemy a dog, and in
Constantinople you neither can interfere with a dog
nor call anybody by that name if you would be safe.
The visitor is also soon made aware of the pecul-
iarities of the Turkish system of time-keeping. The
counting of the twenty-four hours is regulated by
sunset, and the hours are counted until the next sun-
set, being divided into minutes and seconds as else-
where. But as the actual time of sunset changes,
and the elapsed time between one sunset and another
is not a fixed quantity, a watch, to keep correct
Turkish time, has to be reset every day. An attempt
was recently made to change this system to conform
to European time, but it caused such an uproar in

THE SWEET WATERS 223

the Parliament that the president had to leave the
house and close the session, and the motion after-
ward was withdrawn.

Pera, being the most modern, is the most attractive
of the cities forming Constantinople, and the visitor,
usually housed here, soon gets to know it. The
Grand Rue, with its hotels and shops, though narrow
in places, is a street reminding of Paris, with its
theatres, cafe-gardens, kiosks and brilliant show-win-
dows. An underground railway, going through an
inclined tunnel, takes the tourist down to Galata, and
then it is the usual custom to cross the Golden Horn,
to visit the Turkish quarters in old Stamboul. The
bridge crossing is attractive, giving on each side the
view of the Golden Horn, with its shipping and the
many dainty caiques gliding upon the smooth waters.
Carriages cross with turbaned Turks and veiled
ladies; porters carry huge boxes and sacks on their
backs ; beggars, soldiers, slaves, and all kinds of peo-
ple pass in endless procession, two unending streams,
one moving each way, from dawn until late at night.
The crowds are of varied nationality and costumes.
The Turks are in turbans or red fez, with the better
class wearing modern clothing, but many in oriental
garb; there are Moslems with a green sash wound
around the fez, denoting that the wearer has made a
pilgrimage to Mecca ; Moslem priests, some in white
turbans and others in high green turbans; bearded
Greek priests in black robes and tall, peculiar hats;

224: THE MEDITERRANEAN

Turks in gold embroidered trousers and jackets, and
long, flowing, blue sleeves ; Turkish soldiers with red
fez and blue uniforms; Bulgarian and Russian
priests having fleecy, sheepskin coats, the fleece worn
inside; Dervishes wearing high-crowned, brimless
hats and brown mantles; long, yellow-coated Jews,
having little curls at the sides of their heads ; jet-black
Nubians with glistening skins and tattooed faces;
confectionery peddlers having trays on their heads
or backs ; Turkish women wrapped sometimes in gor-
geous shawls, their faces concealed behind the large
white veils ; and a multitude of others, men, women,
children, babies, and animals, all moving with an ap-
pearance of haste, as the speedy transfer of the
crowds of passengers requires it. But this is al-
most the only exhibition of haste in the Turkish
capital. At each end of the bridge a half dozen
toll collectors, in long, white mantles, stand in line
across the highway, collecting ten paras (about one
cent) from each person crossing.

THE AGIA SOPHIA.

The oriental characteristics of the old city have
not been essentially changed by modern improve-
ments. The number of foreigners, however, in-
creases, though the Jiamels or porters still carry bur-
dens on their backs, and the clumsy Turkish carriage,
called the aroba, yet goes along the narrow, crooked
streets. The bazaars and market halls are pictur-

Mosque of St. Sophia.

THE AGIA SOPHIA 225

esque and bustling, but there are few open spaces or
squares. Two aqueducts, nine or ten miles long,
supply the city with water, their construction hav-
ing been accomplished by the Emperors Hadrian and
Constantine. The extensive system of cisterns that
received their waters was sufficiently capacious to pro-
vide the supply for a million people, during four
months, a necessity for a city almost perpetually
subject to assault and siege. The great reservoir
still used, the cisterna basilica, was made by Justin-
ian, its roof resting upon more than three hundred
columns, supporting overhead arches. In crossing
the bridge over the Golden Horn the dome and two
slender minarets of the mosque in the Seraglio stand
out clearly against the sky, though the visitor seldom
goes there, but ascends the hill slope, seeking the
greater mosque and most famous building of the city,
the Agia Sophia, the " Church of the Divine Wis-
dom," which is at the head of the long list of about
five hundred mosques and five thousand smaller
prayer houses in Constantinople. This was origi-
nally the Church of St. Sophia, founded by Constan-
tine in 325, rebuilt by Justinian, transferred into a
mosque by Mohammed II, and thoroughly renovated
and restored in 1847. It is built of light bricks and
lined with colored marbles, the ground plan being a
Greek cross, 350 feet long by 236 feet wide, with the
dome of 107 feet diameter, and the height, from

ground to cupola, 180 feet. The ceilings, and arches
VOL. 11—15

226 THE MEDITERRANEAN

between the columns are lined with beautiful mosaic
work and gilt. The gallery, fifty feet broad, is sus-
tained by sixty-seven magnificent columns. There
are nine massive bronze portals covered with artistic
alto-relievo work. Several churches had been pre-
viously built on this site, when in the early sixth cen-
tury the Emperor Justinian determined to construct
here a cathedral which not only should glorify his
name, but would differ in design from every existing
Christian temple of that early time and surpass all
others in magnificence, making, as the chronicler has
enthusiastically expressed it, a structure " such as
since Adam has never been seen." So Justinian
ransacked the Byzantine empire for contributions,
as it was then at the height of its power.

He secured, from all regions, gifts of ivory, gold,
silver, precious stones, the rarest marbles, cedar and
other choice woods; brought columns of green jasper
from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus; porphyry
columns from the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek;
pure white marble columns from the Parthenon and
other structures at Athens; the choicest granite and
sandstone pillars from the shrines of Osiris, Isis and
Horus in Egypt, and got marbles of every hue and
texture from the most famous quarries of Italy,
Greece, and the ^Egean Islands. Thus he procured
the best materials for building and decoration that
the world produced in his era, and also brought to
Constantinople the most skilled handicraftsmen.

THE AGIA SOPHIA 22Y

One hundred architects and master builders directed
the labors of ten thousand workmen, for six years,
and the renowned temple, the greatest of the early
Christian world, was then ready for dedication.
The tradition also tells us that the funds for this
vast work were miraculously supplied, through the
assistance of an angel, who appeared to the emperor
at critical periods, during the construction, and in-
dicated the way to get necessary money, the aggre-
gate cost being $5,000,000, an enormous sum at that
time. The high altar was of silver and gold, there
were seven chairs for the bishops, all plated with
silver, the crosses were of pure gold, precious stones
decorated the altar-cloth and other furnishings and
vestments, while sacred paintings, holy relics and
images of the saints, all profusely jeweled and orna-
mented, were everywhere displayed. The ponderous
doors were of the best cedar, enriched with amber,
silver and ivory ; delicate carvings inset with precious
stones, silver and mother-of-pearl ornamented the
columns and their capitals ; polished marbles covered
the walls; and the most elaborate mosaics, in which
gold was profuse, adorned the extensive ceilings.
This wonderful structure had a grand dedication,
when an army of princes and dignitaries of the
church attended, a vast concourse of the people were
assembled, and the proud emperor, overjoyed at the
consummation of his great work, is said to have pros-
trated himself in front of the altar, exclaiming,

228 THE MEDITERRANEAN

" Glory to God, who has deemed me worthy to accom-
plish so great a work : O Solomon, I have surpassed
thee!"

St. Sophia was, for a thousand years, the greatest
church of the Byzantine empire and all Christen-
dom, until in the fifteenth century Mohammed II
captured Constantinople. We are told that when
hope of successful resistance to the Moslem siege was
lost, and the city walls were breached, the Christians
crowded into this temple, praying that the church
at least might be spared, but Mohammed II, flushed
with victory, boldly rode into it upon his charger,
and striking one of the columns with his sword
loudly proclaimed, " There is no God but Allah, and
Mohammed is his prophet." Then followed the ter-
rible massacre and pillage, continuing three days,
during which the emblems of Christianity were torn
down or effaced, and Moslem devices superseded
them. The captors destroyed the altar and crosses,
melted the gold and silver, removed the images of
the saints, and carried off all the jewels, precious
stones, and everything of value. St. Sophia has
since been a mosque, and to it once a year the sultan
goes to pray, though his fear of assassination is such
that the streets through which he passes, have to be
cleared of people while the escorting procession is
moving.

The approach to St. Sophia is a disappointment,
the church being so surrounded by other buildings

THE AGIA SOPHIA 229

that a good view cannot be had, excepting from a
long distance, and it is impossible anywhere to get a
sight of the four minarets at the same time. The
outer walls are horizontally striped in faded pink
and buff, and are not impressive. The visitor pays
his entrance fee in Turkish money, equivalent to
about forty cents, covers his shoes with the loose and
clumsy slippers provided, so that the mosque floor
may not be profaned, and enters, when the disap-
pointment soon changes to awe and delight, as the
immense size and grandeur of the structure are ap-
preciated and the soft-toned coloring admired.
Handsome rugs cover much of the floor, which ex-
ceeds an acre in surface. Neither pews, chairs nor
benches are provided, and the Moslem worshippers
kneel where they may please, their faces all turned to-
ward the black stone in the south wall, indicating the
direction of the holy city of Mecca. Eaising the eyes
to the wonderful dome, towering 180 feet above,
yet so light and airy, the visitor is astonished at the
vastness of the structure, and appreciates the wealth
of the mosaics, still remaining on the ceiling, the
ponderous splendor of four huge columns, each
seventy feet in circumference, supporting the dome,
and the magnificence of the porphyry, granite, sand-
stone, jasper and other pillars, so profusely dis-
tributed around. An encircling girdle of forty-four
windows, in the dome, lights up the mosaic in
the ceiling, but the portions that originally gave rep-

230 THE MEDITERRANEAN

reservations of the Almighty have been obliterated
and covered with green cloth, on which are printed
verses from the Koran, in gilt Arabic characters
about thirty feet long. Above where the high altar
formerly stood can still be traced the outline of an
obliterated cross, though overlaid with Moslem in-
signia. There are eight huge green shields, high on
the walls, covered with Arabic texts. In one of the
bronze covered pillars is a small hole that is always
damp, and its exhalations, when breathed upon the
truly faithful, are said to have a miraculous healing
power. There is also in one place on the marble
wall the supposed imprint of a bloody hand, said to
have been made by the Sultan Mohammed II when
he rode into the church. Every Friday the red-
robed Moslem priest ascends the pulpit, to make a
prayer for the sultan, and as he does so holds the
Koran in one hand and in the other a drawn sword,
typical of the militant energy of Islam, which has
special significance, as the Moslem captured this tem-
ple from the Christian. Upon the wall hangs the
personal prayer rug of Mohammed II, the captor,
which despite its age, still retains much of the origi-
nal beauty. On special occasions St. Sophia is
illuminated in the evenings. There are many hang-
ing lamps to furnish light, the most prominent occa-
sion being the Friday evening ending the month's
fast of Ramadan, the Moslem Lent. Then, to in-
crease the light, are added several thousand little

SOME OTHER MOSQUES 231

cups, with floating wicks, distributed in the chande-
liers and galleries, but the ample smoke from them
tends to obscure the atmosphere. Through the par-
tial eclipse, however, the long lines of kneeling fig-
ures on the floor present a varied spectacle, and the
mosque seems even more wonderful in this peculiar
light than it is by day.

SOME OTHER MOSQUES.

The Emperor Justinian built a model of St. So-
phia as a guide for the architects, and this is not far
away, the Katchuk Sophia Mosque, or the " Little
Sophia," and quite attractive. The sultan of Tur-
key is known to his own people as the Padishah, or
" supreme ruler " of the dynasty of Othman, and the
people as Osmanlis. This hero, the founder of the
long line of Turkish sovereigns and the first ruler
of the Ottoman empire, was the son of a Seljuk
chief, born in Bithynia in 1259, being called indiffer-
ently Othman or Osman. He was the first Moslem
who made serious inroads upon the later Byzantine
empire, captured NicaBa, was surnamed the " Con-
queror," and on account of his great strength and ex-
ploits was called the " Bonebreaker," and after mak-
ing other conquests he died in 1326. Out in the
suburb of Eyoub, near the " Sweet Waters of Eu-
rope," the head stream of the Golden Horn, is a mys-
terious mosque to which only the Moslem is ad-
mitted, a shrine that neither of the unbelievers, the

232 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Giaour nor the Jew, can enter. Here are kept the
relics and memorials of the great Othman. To this
place came, in the first holy war against Byzantium,
the standard bearer of the great Prophet Mohammed,
in one of the attacks made in the seventh century,
and was slain. Near the mosque is an august mauso-
leum, under a lofty palm tree, which is the shrine
of the standard bearer himself, whose body was found
here long afterward, the inscriptions recording that
" five times daily he prostrated himself in prayer,
and the archangels stretched forth their arms to
anoint him as he knelt: coveted be the life he lived
and the death he died." Within the mosque are kept
Mohammed's mantle, and his green standard, which
we. are told was woven when the prophet was a youth
in Arabia. Sentinels guard it day and night, and
once a year it is taken out of the rosewood casket,
which is incrusted with precious jewels, pearl and
gems, its forty separate silken coverings are un-
wrapped, and it is exhibited for the admiration of
the faithful. To this mosque goes every new sultan,
on his accession to power, to be girded with the great
sword of his ancestor and have the sacred banner
unfurled over him.

Othman's grandson, Amuroth, made serious inroads
upon the Byzantine empire, capturing Adrianople
in 1361, and he organized that powerful body of in-
fantry, the Janizaries, which was so long the pride
of the Turkish army, but in its later career degener-

SOME OTHER MOSQUES 233

ated. The Turkish sultan is supreme, excepting in
deciding various questions of religion and law, when
he must consult the Grand Mufti, who holds his
office for life, the Sheikh ul Islam, the head of the
Ulema, which is the potential organization of the
learned men of the empire, who officially interpret
the Koran.

Solyman the Magnificent, under whom the Ottoman
government attained the zenith of its military power,
lived in the sixteenth century, and made the code of
laws and regulations which so long governed the em-
pire, and is still greatly respected. He built the
Solymanye Mosque, in 1550, a structure of great
beauty, which has been well described as a splendid
mass of exquisite blue and white Persian pottery.
There are also the Mosque of Mohammed II, with
which are associated eight colleges for the education
of youth, a hospital and refectory for the poor; the
Kilisse Jamih, or " Mosque of the Churches," which
\vas the burial place of several Byzantine emperors ;
the Exi Marmora Jamih, or " mosque of the six mar-
ble columns," said to have originally been a temple
of Jupiter ; the Shah Sadeh Jamih, or " mosque of
the princes ; " the Nuri Osmani, in the vestibule of
which stands a sarcophagus of porphyry that once
contained the mortal remains of Constantine the
Great; and there rises also in admirable view the
glittering and airy white minaret of the " Mosque
of the Sun and Moon Sultana," built by her, accord-

234 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ing to the legend, from the sale of the jewels set in
one of her slippers.

'The mosques all have fountains and basins, to pro-
vide for the preliminary ablutions which give the
purification that is such an important adjunct of the
religion of Islam. There are also many other foun-
tains supplying pure running waters throughout the
city, which vary in size and magnificence, most hav-
ing been the gifts of sultans and great officials and
nobles. Some are little more than spouts or vents
in a wall, while others are elaborate marble pagodas
and temples, with projecting eaves and dome-like
roofs, richly decorated and inscribed with suitable
texts. Upon many are the words in Arabic which
being translated mean : " By water everything lives."
The finest fountain of all, a splendid structure in
carved arabesque, with delicately colored green tiles,
built by Sultan Ahmed, near the At Meidan square,
has the gilded inscription over the water tap which
says : " Wayfarer, admire this beautiful work ;
turn the tap in the name of Allah ; drink thy fill and
bless the founder, Ahmed Kahn." Sultan Ahmed also
constructed the chief mosque built by the Moslems
in the city. It is the only one having six minarets,
an honor that had previously been reserved for Mecca
alone, and when permission was asked to build them
it was delayed until the number at Mecca had been
increased to seven. There rise from this mosque
nine cupolas and domes, the central one being

SOME OTHER MOSQUES 235

supported on four colossal dome-topped towers. The
interior is gorgeous, illumined by lamps set in emer-
alds and suspended by gold cbains. Enormous can-
dles, in splendid candlesticks, flank the mihrab or
prayer niche, and on gilded lecterns are kept rare
copies of the Koran. The pulpit is of hewn stone,
reproducing that of Mecca, and is famous as the one
from which the Grand Mufti promulgated the edict
against the Janizaries.

Adjoining is the open square of the At Meidan,
or the " Horse Square," which was originally the
hippodrome, the mosque and other buildings now oc-
cupying much of the original ground, which had
been the site of the ancient royal palace of the
Greeks. This place became the Roman hippodrome,
surrounded by splendid porticos, and having a seat-
ing capacity for eighty thousand people, who wit-
nessed the gladiatorial combats, triumphal proces-
sions and sports. There stands at the end of the
square the obelisk of Theodosius the Great, a tall
red granite shaft, covered with hieroglyphics, that
was erected by Thothmes III at Heliopolis, in Egypt,
who placed upon it the statement that " he had con-
quered the whole world, and his throne was as firm
as that of the gods in the sky." Theodosius brought
this obelisk, as a trophy, from Egypt, and set it up
in the hippodrome. He had his own portrait carved
on the base, surrounded by his court. In the centre
of the square is the famous column formed of the

23G THE MEDITERRANEAN

three serpents coiled around each other, erected origi-
nally at Delphi in commemoration of the battle of
Plataaa. Here also stood, for several centuries, the
four splendid gilded and bronze horses brought from
Rome bj Constantine, which the Crusaders after-
ward carried off to Venice, and are now in front of
the Venetian Church of San Marco. But the later
notoriety of the At Meidan square is connected with
the downfall of the Janizaries, as here they made
their last stand.

This noted organization of the Turkish infantry
was first formed in the fourteenth century as a spe-
cial force to defend and spread the doctrines of
Islam, and it was then recruited mainly from the
Sclavic proselytes and Christian slaves, who had em-
braced that religion. They powerfully aided in the
capture of Constantinople, and became a most for-
midable force, being at the height of their efficiency
under Solyman the Magnificent, when they were con-
ceded to be the best disciplined military body in Eu-
rope and contributed largely to Moslem conquests.
In the battalion organization their junior officer was
the cook, for whom they had great reverence, and
they never appeared without a wooden spoon in their
turbans. Upon extraordinary occasions they always
assembled around their soup kettles, their revolts
being proclaimed by reversing these kettles, and to
lose one of them in battle was regarded as a disgrace
similar to losing the colors.

SOME OTHER MOSQUES 237

After Solyman's time the organization gradually
degenerated in character, and its membership was
largely made up of vagabonds and adventurers.
They repeatedly mutinied against subsequent sultans,
in some cases deposing them, imprisoning and killing
them, and they frequently pillaged cities they were
guarding. Selim III, in 1798, attempted to defy
them, and they revolted, compelling his abdication,
procuring his death in July, and committing terrible
outrages afterward in Constantinople. Mahmoud
II ascended the throne, and was compelled to pardon
their leaders, but he quietly matured plans for sup-
planting them. He began enforcing his new policy
in 1828, and this led to a revolt in June, the Jani-
zaries committing horrible massacres. They assem-
bled and reversed their soup kettles, but the Grand
Mufti pronounced the sultan's edict, displayed the
sacred standard of Mohammed, which the people
were summoned to support, and the public all sus-
tained the sultan. The Janizaries were savagely at-
tacked by soldiers and sailors, artillery was brought
against them, some were burned alive in their bar-
racks, and they made their final desperate defence
in the At Meidan, where they were cannonaded, and,
being driven out, were massacred in the neighboring
streets. For nearly three months the carnage con-
tinued, about twenty-five thousand Janizaries being
killed, while others were captured and exiled. This
long famous force was never reorganized.

238 THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE SERAGLIO AND TEEASTJKY.

A high wall surrounds the Seraglio, which is now
rather a Museum of Curiosities since the sultans
abandoned it as a residence. Fees amounting to
about five dollars will give a small party of visitors
admittance. It is in the oldest part of old Stamboul,
and the Seraglio Point, stretching high and boldly
out among the Sea of Marmora, the Bosporus and
the Golden Horn, gives a magnificent view. This
was the site of the royal palace, where, for twenty-
five centuries, kings, emperors, and sultans lived,
until the fire drove out Abdul Aziz, in the nineteenth
century. Its chief building is the fine marble Treas-
ury, where are kept the trophies gathered by the
Turks, in their many years of successful warfare
during the middle ages, and also the crown jewels
and other valuable heirlooms. In one large apart-
ment is exhibited, in glass cases, a series of figures
representing the sultans from Mohammed II to the
present time, clothed in their royal attire. These
costumes display the greatest oriental splendors.
One sultan wears a suit of the ' olden time chain
armor, ornamented with gold and diamonds. The
robes of state are flowered and figured heavily with
gold and silver, the turbans are of large size, some-
times rising fifteen inches, with equal width, ablaze
with aigrettes and costly jewels, one of these orna-
ments containing a ruby and two emeralds, flawless

THE SERAGLIO AND TREASURY 239

and as large as pigeons' eggs. With each uniform is
the belt, sword and dagger carried by the sultan, the
jeweled handles adorned with sparkling gems. The
robes and ornaments differ in pattern, but all are
rich and costly, though the older costumes contrast
strikingly with the latest one, which is a modern red
military uniform covered with gold braid. There
are also portraits of the sultans, almost all of them
wearing full beards.

When the Turkish empire had its period of great-
est military success the knights and warriors of all
nations vied with each other in the. splendors of equi-
page, and the oriental courts and camps were mag-
nificently decorated. Hence this Treasury is full of
the rich spoils of conquest and trophies of victory.
There are two splendid thrones that were captured
from shahs of Persia. One of these, taken four cen-
turies ago, is of large size, made of beaten gold, and
covered with rubies, emeralds and pearls, arranged in
attractive patterns. The seat of crimson velvet is
also embroidered with gold and pearls. The other
and smaller throne is even more richly ornamented,
being encrusted with larger jewels, and from the
centre of the surmounting canopy is suspended a
huge pear-shaped emerald. In several rooms are
kept innumerable swords, scimitars, daggers, crowns
and sceptres, with jewels galore, and guns and weap-
ons of every description, many of them engraved
with mottoes in gold and silver and highly orna-

240 THJs MEDITERRANEAN

merited. There are vessels of gold and silver, rare
china, jewel boxes, embroideries, and many rich
gifts sent by other rulers, as all the embassies and
visiting deputations in the Orient present gifts.
The Moslem rulers in their days of successful war-
fare gathered the rich spoil which is now displayed
in these sumptuous apartments. The visit to the
Treasury is closed by refreshments of black Turkish
coffee in small cups and Turkish sweetmeats served
in a marble reception hall, for all foreign visitors
have to get special permits and are regarded as the
sultan's guests. There is an extensive Museum of
Antiquities in which are displayed the archaeological
relics gathered from all parts of the empire.

Xone of the buildings in the Seraglio are now used
for state ceremonies, the sultan's official home for
this purpose being the marble Dolmah Bagcheh Pal-
ace, down by the Bosporus. This is a splendid struc-
ture, and the sultan's imperial receptions are held in
the throne room, which is the largest and most gor-
geous of all the apartments, and will accommodate
five thousand people. It is elaborately decorated
in white and gold, Corinthian columns surround
it at the walls, and the ceiling rises in a mag-
nificent dome. On the day after the end of the great
fast of Ramadan the sultan comes into this splendid
hall to receive the homage of his officials and the
nobility, giving audience to several thousands of the
highest dignitaries, officers of state, of the army

THE SERAGLIO AND TREASURY 2il

and navy, the heads of the Moslem church and re-
ligious orders, all making obeisance to him, bowing
low to kiss the hem of his garment, and pressing it
reverently to their foreheads in token of loyalty, as
he reclines on a splendid crimson and gold divan.
Then they solemnly retire backward from his pres-
ence, as all of the faithful must always face the
sultan. Outside, there is cannon firing, band play-
ing and universal rejoicing, the mosques being illu-
minated at night. This begins the feast of Bairam,
a three-day festival following the month of fasting.
One of the most prominent attractions of old
Stamboul, for the stranger, is the group of bazaars,
nestling in a valley between the higher hills of the
city. These are a mass of labyrinthine passageways,
all covered for protection from the sun and rain,
bordered by little shops, each with its own propri-
etor, and making what an American would call
an immense department store. The aggregation
spreads over several acres, there being a thousand
narrow streets and passageways, totalling a length of
about nine miles, and some four thousand diminutive
shops. To many visitors this is the most interesting
place in Constantinople, and they go back to it re-
peatedly, though at the risk of losing their way, as
the intricate passages wander around aimlessly and
without guiding signs. There are probably a hun-
dred different entrances. The supplies of goods

offered for sale seem practically exhaustless, and, at
VOL. 11—16

242 THE MEDITERRANEAN

one place or another, can be found the wares and
merchandise of every nation.

Among the most attractive parts of this section
of the city is the Bezestan, a spacious court near
the centre, guarded by thick stone walls and heavy
iron doors, being the chief treasure house of the mer-
chants, who here keep their choicest goods. In these
bazaars the long passageways have arched roofs and
decorated ceilings, the little shops or stalls being on
either side, and having raised platforms for floors
and well stocked shelves behind. Here are seen the
native people of all races, in their most picturesque
costumes, and there goes on a constant game of adroit
bargaining, for the price usually first asked for an
article is about three times the amount that the very
polite and grandly turbaned or stylishly fezzed owner
of the shop is willing to take for it. Everything is
for sale ; there are dealers in diamonds and precious
stones, jewels and gems, keepsakes of all kinds, Per-
sian carpets, shawls, prayer rugs, richly ornamented
arms, harness and leather goods, slippers sewed with
pearls, gold wrought tobacco pouches, vials of pre-
cious attar of roses, furs, skins, silks, satins, gauze,
spices, porcelain and glassware. Here are the shops
of gunsmiths, tent makers, turban and fez makers,'
and the most attractive candy and cook-shops and
cafes. A constant and most noisy chaffering goes
on, but after apparent dispute and most vociferous
protest, all ends well, and the patient buyer, who has

Date-seller.

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM 243

held out long enough, finds that he has got the goods,
as he hoped, cheaply, while the dealer who has raged,
protested, stormed, and finally yielded to a most
ruinous reduction, having made the sale, and really
at a good profit, becomes affable, and presents the
buyer with some small trinket or keepsake, as a
backsheesh, showing his regard, and politely inviting
the visitor to call again.

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM.

The sultan of Turkey is not only the monarch of
the Ottoman empire, but is also the spiritual chief of
Islam, a prerogative which really gives him the most
power. More than three centuries ago the Ottoman
empire assumed the title of the khalifate, when the
keys of the holy places of Islam were handed to Sul-
tan Selim by a sherif of the prophet's family. The
present sultan is Mohammed Rechad Effendi, or Mo-
hammed V, born in 1845, who was proclaimed sul-
tan, April 27, 1909, when his older brother Abdul
Hamid II, who had been sultan since August 31,
1876, was dethroned. His family has been supreme
in Constantinople for twenty-four generations, ever
since Mohammed II captured the city in the fifteenth
century. Mohammed is somewhat of an invalid,
and is not noted for much activity, having, for most
of his life, been kept in captivity by Abdul Hamid,
who evidently was in dread of the revolution that ul-
timately came. Abdul Hamid was crafty and cruel,

244 THE MEDITERRANEAN

but a hard worker, and kept himself in power by
extraordinary feats of diplomacy and cunning. He
was much of a recluse, owing to the frequent at-
tempts at assassination. The story goes that it used
to cost him about $900 every night to have his sleep-
ing apartments guarded, this being paid in fees, to
the generals and other officials, who by turns con-
ducted the long vigils, as every night there were%on
duty a couple of generals, a colonel and a detachment
of picked soldiers, who paced the corridors outside
his bedroom, in the Yildiz Kiosk, where his favorite
chamber had a beautiful satinwood door, inlaid with
mother-of-pearl. Similarly, the necessity for protec-
tion made his kitchen costly, though he was but a
sparing eater. The imperial kitchen, where his
meals were prepared, was much like a fortress, hav-
ing an armor-plated door, fitted with special locks,
which could only be opened by the chief official.
Each course, when prepared, was placed on a silver
dish, and sealed with red wax by the official specially
responsible for the food, a black velvet cover being
used to keep it warm. Everyone engaged in the
preparation followed the dish in procession from the
kitchen to the monarch, the seal being broken in the
sultan's presence. Often, the chief official, called
the kelardjhi, was requested to taste some of the
food before his master ate it. Abdul Hamid was
fond of music and the drama, having a private the-
atre in the palace, and he was also a fine horseman,

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM 245

possessing hundreds of horses, many of them the best
Arabian steeds.

Discontent was frequent during his reign, and in
the summer of 1908, yielding to the unrest which
had resulted in the formation of the powerful Young
Turkish party, who wished relief from oppressive
rulers, Abdul Hamid changed his cabinet, to prevent
a rebellion, and revived the short-lived constitution
of 1876. Upon July 28, in the presence of the
Sheikh ul Islam, the head of the hierarchy, he took
the oath of allegiance to this constitution upon the
Koran. Subsequently he convoked the first Turkish
parliament, and its members chosen throughout the
empire, in November, convened December 17, 1908,
in the Parliament House, the Chiragan Palace, un-
der the shadow of the Agia Sophia. It represented
all the creeds and races of Turkey, Moslems, Jews
and Christians, Greeks, Sclavs, Bulgarians, Kurds,
Armenians, Turks, Albanians, Arabs, and its assem-
blage was greeted by approving addresses and tele-
grams from all the parliaments and congresses of
the civilized world. The opening day was pro-
claimed a general holiday, the city being handsomely
decorated. The sultan rode in state from the Yildiz
Kiosk, the streets being lined by troops and crowded
with people, and he formally opened the session, his
chancellor reading the speech from the throne. The
Chiragan Palace was unfortunately burnt in Jan-
uary, 1910, causing a loss of $7,500,000.

246 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Young Turks were in power, but despite all
efforts to soothe the situation the reactionaries began
to resume control, and this being covertly aided by
Abdul Hamid, an outbreak came in Constantinople
in April, 1909, followed by the Armenian massacres
in Asia Minor and a general disturbance. The
troops at the capital, under reactionary control, and
it was said at the secret instigation of Abdul Hamid,
revolted, and on April 13 took possession of the city,
after a brief conflict, in which some thirty lives were
lost. The old cabinet was overthrown, the parlia-
ment practically suppressed, and a new reactionary
cabinet installed. While the sultan declared that
peace had been restored under this new regime, there
was nevertheless a great disturbance throughout the
empire, and though he went in great pomp to the
mosque on Friday, April 16, this proved to be his
last Selamlik, as that ceremony is called. The
portion of the Turkish army still controlled by the
Young Turks was gathered at Saloniki, and they
marched upon Constantinople, capturing it on the
24th, after battles resulting in several hundreds be-
ing killed and wounded, got possession of the Yildiz
Kiosk, and dethroned Abdul Hamid. The parlia-
ment met outside the city and voted his deposition,
after the necessary " fetva " had been promulgated
by Djeinaletdin Effendi, the then Sheikh ul Islam, on
April 27, and his younger brother Mohammed was
enthroned and proclaimed that afternoon. The

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM 247

" fetva " declared that Abdul Hamid had squandered
the wealth of the country, broken the laws, burnt the
sacred books, and spilt blood and fathered massacres,
and therefore must be deposed. Soon after, in the
ministry of war, the Sheikh ul Islam and a commis-
sion from the Parliament attended the new sultan,
the sheikh administered the oath to obey the consti-
tution, and the cabinet ministers and president and
members of parliament paid homage. Outside, the
artillery thundered the salute of 101 guns, proclaim-
ing the enthronement of the new sultan as Mo-
hammed V, and he took up his royal abode in the
beautiful Dolmah Bagcheh Palace, down by the Bos-
porus, where he had been imprisoned for thirty years.
On the next day he went to the Eyoub Mosque, and
girded on the sacred sword of Othman, and on the
following Friday, April 30, quietly celebrated his
first Selamlik, at the Agia Sophia.

Abdul Hamid, with his immediate family and
part of his harem, was sent to Saloniki. Then began
a series of summary punishments of his adherents.
On April 28 two hundred and fifty of his officials
and followers, headed by his palace eunuch, the colos-
sal Nubian Nadir Pasha, popularly known as the
" Black Sultan," were convicted by a military court
of having conspired to make the revolt of April 13,
and were promptly executed. Nadir was hanged
at dawn on the Galata bridge, and his body viewed
for several hours by the pedestrians crossing it, until

248 THE MEDITERRANEAN

it was cut down toward noon. For several weeks
there were public hangings in conspicuous places
about the city, this being done as a warning to
future conspirators. The new sultan in May changed
his entire cabinet, and also appointed a new
Sheikh ul Islam as head of the Moslem faith, Mollah
Sahib, a prominent theologian, classed as a Liberal,
sympathizing with the new regime.

The Yildiz Kiosk and its many buildings, so long
the home of Abdul Hamid, with its park, gardens
and lakes, were turned over to the city authorities
for a public resort. This palace was originally a
pleasure house of the sultans, on the heights overlook-
ing Pera, Stamboul and the Bosporus. Soon after
coming to the throne, Abdul Hamid, who was always
apprehensive about his personal security, made it his
abode. The park is surrounded by a wall, in some
parts fifty feet high. He greatly enlarged the
grounds by acquiring adjacent estates, and con-
structed many new buildings. Within the enclosure,
a second wall surrounded the kiosk where he lived,
which he designed, and adjacent were several smaller
kiosks, built for the ladies of the harem. He always
had the doors of this inner barrier locked at sunset,
remaining inside in assured security. Two batteries
of artillery and an army corps of about 7,000 men
usually were on duty as guards of the domain, their
spacious barracks being outside the wall, where a
special mosque also was built for them. The new

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM 249

V

government thoroughly searched the place for hidden
treasures, and with most successful result. There
were found in it about $3,500,000 in money, jewels,
gems and other valuables, appraised at $13,000,000,
and deposit books and other documents showing that
the old sultan had about $27,000,000 in the German
Imperial Bank at Berlin and other banks outside of
Turkey. This money the Turkish government has
been trying to recover, but with scant success. One
most gorgeous pearl necklace found was said to be
worth $350,000. The park contains forests and five
lakes with little islands. There were twenty thou-
sand pigeons about the grounds and buildings, and
nearly five hundred horses in the stables, mostly of
pure Arabian breed, many deer, monkeys, thirteen
camels, and rare birds, one corridor being the home
of numerous parrots. Various archaeological curios-
ities were found, that had been sent in as gifts from
remote provinces, but there were few paintings, and
only a small number of rare books. A museum con-
tained a valuable collection of arms, including a
thousand revolvers, and there were twenty thousand
curious keys, of which Abdul Hamid was an indus-
trious collector, with thousands of rosaries and
shibuks (Turkish pipes). A rich display of Per-
sian, Gobelin and Turkish carpets and tapestries was
also gathered, that had been placed in the many cha-
lets, kiosks and pavilions the sultan had built in the
park. The whole place was a curious aggregation,

250 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and one of the investigators described it as " not a
palace at all ; it is a labyrinth ; it has the air of hav-
ing been constructed with the unique object of
rendering pursuit along the endless corridors impos-
sible." The extensive harem that he kept was dis-
persed. Some of the ladies went with Abdul Hamid
to Saloniki; others chose to go to the harems of
princes and officials, while the remainder are kept at
the public expense, it is adroitly said " until they are
asked in marriage." Eighty of these women were
taken in closed carriages on May 16th to the Old
Seraglio in Stamboul, followed by an extensive pro-
cession of vans, carrying their luggage. Abdul
Hamid surrendered everything, and was given an al-
lowance of $4,500 monthly, his two sons and daugh-
ters each receiving $2,700, making $12,600 monthly
cost for the support of his new establishment at Sa-
loniki.

Among the gems said to have been at one time
owned by Abdul Hamid was the famous " Hope
Blue Diamond." This originally was cut from a
large blue stone, weighing 112 carats, making a sap-
phire of 441/2 carats, owned by Mr. Henry T. Hope,
of London. Its origin is unknown, but its pos-
sessors in recent centuries have generally met with
misfortune, and it has been regarded as possessed by
the genii of evil. It was brought to .Delhi, India,
and there sparkled in the diadem of a Hindu god.
Jean Tavernier got it there and brought it to Europe

THE CHIEF OF ISLAM 251

in the seventeenth century. He had to sell his estate
to pay his debts and the gem went to Louis XIV,
who loaned it to Madame de Montespau, when at
once her power over the " grande monarque " began
wavering. Afterward, Fouquet wore it and fell into
disgrace. It came to Louis XVI, who presented it
to Queen Marie Antoinette, and both were beheaded.
The Princess Lamballe, a lady of their court, wore
it, and she was killed by a Parisian mob. Then it
was put into the hands of an Amsterdam diamond
cutter, William Fals, to be recut, whereupon his son
stole it, which resulted in ruining the father and the
suicide of the son. Henry T. Hope then got it, suf-
fered misfortunes for years, and it descended to his
grandson, Lord Francis Hope, who married the
actress, May Yohe, who wore it. He became a bank-
rupt, and she has had a subsequent career of vary-
ing fortune. Then it was sold in London to a
New York syndicate, of which the chief members got
into financial difficulty, and they sold it to a Russian
prince, for a price said to be $300,000, in 1908, and
at once prosperity returned to them. The Russian
prince loaned it to a Parisian actress, and the first
night she wore it on the stage he shot her from a box.
He got the diamond back two days afterward, and
was stabbed. The broker who arranged this Paris
sale killed himself, and the gem went to a Greek jew-
eler, who sold it to Abdul Hamid. The Greek, with
his wife and children, fell over a precipice and were

252 THE MEDITERRANEAN

killed. Abdul Hamid lost his throne; his favorite
Zubayha, who was wearing it when the Young Turks
captured the palace, was shot dead, and the keeper of
the vault where it was locked up and the eunuch in
charge were both strangled. Abdul sold it to Selim
Habib, and he was drowned in a shipwreck near Sin-
gapore. At first it was said the diamond was lost
with him, but it afterward appeared in Paris at an
auction sale of his effects in June, 1909, and was dis-
posed of for $80,000. It remained in Paris then,
but so great had become its " hoodoo " that no one
seemed willing to acknowledge its ownership.

THE SELAMLIK.

Once a week the sultan appears in public, on Fri-
days, the Moslem Sabbath, when he goes to worship
in the mosque, this great ceremonial function being
known as the Selamlik. The new sultan, Moham-
med, at his first Selamlik, on April 30, went to the
Agia Sophia, and this he made a very simple per-
formance, though it gave the public their first good
view of him. He rode in an open carriage, standing
up, dressed in a khaki uniform, and accompanied by
a half dozen household officials. He appeared as a
stout gentleman of somewhat advanced age, and in
sharp contrast with his darker predecessors for cen-
turies, has blue eyes and fair hair, also being beard-
less, and wearing only a pointed moustache. He
stepped out of his carriage at the " Sultan's Door "

THE SELAMLIK 253

of the mosque, upon a red carpet, which was laid
from the street into the building. An attendant
priest, in a black robe, immediately cut the throats of
two rams, the sacrificial blood flowing almost to his
feet, as he passed. He prayed with the Sheikh ul
Islam, within the mosque, for nearly an hour, but
few others being admitted. Then he withdrew, and
drove back to the palace, the streets lined by the ac-
claiming populace, while the foreign embassies were
fully represented in pavilions erected for their ac-
commodation.

The simplicity of Mohammed's Selamliks is in
sharp contrast with the pomp that was shown by
Abdul Hamid, who made the greatest display when
he went to mosque. He worshipped in the Ham-
idieh Mosque, near the Yildiz Kiosk, and he rarely
went outside the park at any other time. A large
concourse of people, including the foreign visitors
then in Constantinople, generally gathered to witness
the pageant, which was the most important function
of the time, and is well described by an American
tourist. At first there approach various street clean-
ers, who furbish up the highway, and from a dozen
carts clean sand is sprinkled upon it. Then marched
in, from different directions, large detachments of
soldiers, of all races, there being several thousands
of them, both cavalry and infantry, with numerous
bands of music. The sultan's banner is brought, a
flag of black silk, having texts from the Koran in-

254 THE MEDITERRANEAN

scribed upon it in silver embroidery. The soldiers
completely surround the mosque, and line both sides
of the broad avenue leading to it from the palace gate,
preventing anyone getting through the splendid cor-
don of guards. All being in readiness at noon, the
black-robed muezzin appears on the gallery, which
is at the top of the tall minaret of the mosque, and
makes his loud and echoing, sonorous wailing call to
prayer. The legend is, that when the Mohammedans
first held their religious meetings, in Arabia, there
was trouble found in summoning the people, and it
was proposed to ring a bell like the Christians, or
sound a trumpet as the Hebrews did, but the prophet
Omar II, successor of Mohammed, would have
none of this, and said : " What ! is there not
a man among you who can call to prayer ? " adding
" Oh, Billal ! stand and make the call to prayer."
Thus was appointed the first muezzin, and since then
the muezzins have faithfully called to prayer, five
times daily, from the graceful minarets rising above
the tops of the houses, so that their voices may ring
out over the city, and each time, from the four sides
of the minaret, they have repeated their loud and
solemn call to the four winds of Heaven.

The muezzin's prayer call to the sultan being an-
swered by a trumpet from the palace, the bands cease
playing and the soldiers stand at attention. Then
the palace gate opened, and there emerged carriages
containing the sultan's wives and ladies of the court,

Cemetery of Eyub and View of the Golden Horn.

THE SELAML1K 255

closely veiled and guarded by black eunuchs on horse-
back, while a long line of high officials, in handsome
uniforms, marched out, preceded by musicians, and
followed by Abdul Hamid, in a superb carriage.
The officers saluted, and the troops and populace
cheered, the sultan bowing and smiling. He wore
ordinary clothing and a red fez, and arriving at the
mosque, entered alone, remaining there at prayer
with the Imaum, or priest, as his sole companion, for
about a half hour. Coming out, he drove back to the
palace in a phaeton, himself handling the lines of a
spirited pair of beautiful horses, managing them
cleverly, the guards and other officials hastening after,
along the avenue to the palace gate. Then the
soldiers executed various manoeuvres, returned to
their barracks, and the pageant was over. The great
care in guarding him was necessary, for not long ago
a carriage was got into the waiting line, at the edge
of the avenue, from which a bomb was exploded just
as the sultan came abreast of it, and, while he was
unhurt, many of those who were near him were killed
or injured. Were it not for the strict injunction
of the Koran, that the faithful must pray within a
mosque at least once a week, this spectacular survival
of the ancient pomp of the oriental court might have
been abandoned.

One of the prominent features of Constantinople is
its cemeteries. For at least twenty-six centuries the
city has existed, and its dead, numbered by many

256 THE MEDITERRANEAN

millions, are interred in large enclosures, of which
the distinguishing feature are the groves of sombre
cypress trees. They grow very tall and slender, be-
ing shaped like a plume. In the spring their foliage
seems almost black, contrasting drearily with the
bright colors of the flower gardens and terraces. The
odor of the evergreen and its resinous sap destroys
the miasma of the graveyards. The graves extend
for miles outside the city walls, and there are also
many enclosures inside, where the dense cypress al-
ways protects ancient burial places. Among the
brighter villas adorning the attractive shores of the
Bosporus the groves of these mourning trees tell of
the dead. The usual Turkish gravestone is narrow
at the base, and generally top heavy, so that it often
falls. These overturned slabs make many seats, in
the cemeteries, that are used extensively as pleasure
grounds. These stones also help build walls, and old
ones are broken into fragments to put on the roads.
The Moslem idea is opposed to mourning for the
dead, and hence the survivors have that air of resig-
nation to fate which the prophet taught was the key
to happiness. They believe that the children of over-
mourning parents are driven out of Paradise and
doomed to wander weeping through space, in misery
and darkness, as their relations may weep on the
earth. Hence they may sprinkle sweet herbs on the
graves in remembrance, but they do not mourn, and
the women and children frequent the cemeteries

THE SELAMLIK 257

rather as a picnic ground. Amid roses and perfume,
the pious Moslem in the graveyard rather than
mourn for the dead will tell over his rosary beads of
amber, and confidently speak the ninety-nine beauti-
ful names of Allah. He thinks not so much of the
dead as of the cool palm groves of Paradise, the soft
arms and white hands of the houris beckoning him
thither, where he will recline on green verdure and
drink from the happy river of sparkling waters at
the foot of the great white throne.

The ordinary grave often has stones both at head
and foot, the popular idea being that an angel guards
each. A carved fez or turban surmounts them, and
for the handicraftsman and toiler there is generally
some sign or tool of his calling. Almost every stone
has a little hollow place to hold water for the doves,
that they may come and rest as an omen of peace.
There are many elaborate monuments, and almost
all the gravestones have some epitaph. A tall col-
umn, surmounted by a turban, in an enclosure, hav-
ing around it lesser columns, represents some high
official or dignitary, in the midst of his family.
Stately mausoleums cover the tombs of sultans and
members of the royal houses. In a splendid temple,
adjoining his mosque, reposes the Sultan Mohammed
II, a rich structure of Greek and Italian architecture,
its interior decorated with brilliant tiling, blue and
white arabesques, and golden texts from the Koran.

Elaborate mosaics form the floor, with rich rugs
VOL. 11—17

258 THE MEDITERRANEAN

partly covering them. The raised bier faces Mecca,
and is draped with bright Persian shawls. Ostrich
eggs swing from gilded ropes, lustres hang from the
ceiling, and tall candles rise from high silver candle-
sticks, the emblems of death and of the undying life
hereafter. Upon the elevated plain, beyond Eyoub,
is the vast cemetery, where originally was the Roman
military camp, and where ever since the Turkish
soldiers have been buried. Their memorials tell how
they died, martyrs for their faith, their brave scimi-
tars opening the doors of Paradise. Many of their
gravestones, however, are broken at the tops, the
surmounting turbans having been carried off, a mark
of dishonor imposed on the Janizaries, after their
downfall. Over all rise the groves of~ cypress, and
here, as everywhere throughout the city, along the
shores of the Golden Horn and the Bosporus, this
sombre and ghostly tree deeply shadows the scene,
producing in the visitor one of the most impressive
memories of Constantinople.

Flowers fade, leaves wither,

But the constant cypress is green forever.

PALESTINE AND SYRIA

todfiT injjoM

Mount Tabor.

XII
PALESTINE AND SYRIA

Jaffa — Plain of Sharon — Syria — Csesarea — Herod the Great —
Dor — Athlik — Mount Carmel — the Kishon — Ahab and Jeze-
bel— Mar Elias — Elijah — Ahaziah — Elisha — Haifa — Acre —
Esdraelon — Its Battles — Gilboa — Mount Tabor — Jenin —
Jezreel — Shunem — Little Hermon — Nain — Endor — Nazareth
— the Annunciation — Phoenicia — Baal and Astarte — Venus
and Adonis — Tyre — Kalat Kara — Sarafand — the Litani —
Sidon — Belfort — Beyrout — St. George — the Sannin — Apheca
— Byblos — Botrys — Tripoli — the Dervishes — the Kadisha —
Cedars of Lebanon — the Eleutheros — Aradus — Tortosa —
Baniyas — El Merkab — Gabala — Laodicea — Posidium — Mount
Casius — Seleucus Nicator — Seleucia Pieria — ^Jebel Musa —
Alexandretta — Lake of Antioch — Sam'al — the Kalat Simon
— St. Simeon Stylites — Aleppo — Eski Haleb — Antioch —
Daphne — The Orontes — Coele-Syria — Esh Shughr — Apamea
— Larisa — Hama — Horns — Kadesh — Riblah — the Maronites
— Baalbek — Berzeh — Tadmur — Palmyra — Zenobia — the Syr-
ian Desert — the Bedouins.

JOPPA.

Oldest of cities! Sidon of the North,
And Kirjath-Arba of the rocky South,
And Egypt's Zoan cannot equal thee.
Andromeda and Perseus, if the lay
Of classic fable speak the truth, were here;
Monarch s of Palestine, and kings of Tyre,
And the brave Maccabee have all been here.
And Cestius, with his Roman plunderers,

261

262 THE MEDITERRANEAN

And Saladin, and Baldwin, and the host
Of fierce crusaders from the British North,
Once shook their swords above thee, and thy blood
Flowed down like water to thine ancient sea.

Thus the poet depicts the ancient Joppa of the
Greeks and the Bible, the Hebrew Yapha, or the
" Tower of Delight," now known as Jaffa, the sea-
port where, for many centuries, the visitor has usu-
ally landed in Palestine. Far over the sea, on the
approach, its noble background, the mountain line
of Judea, looms up, and turns in color from blue to
green as the ship comes nearer, and then the strange
rocky environment of the famous port, with its
orange groves and luxuriant foliage, develops above
a long strip of peculiarly yellow sand, making the
sea beach, behind which are the buildings. The ship
anchors outside the little rock-bound harbor, and a
fleet of small craft, manned by fiercely shouting boat-
men, in bare legs and fezzes and generally comic
opera attire, come forth to capture the passengers
and their baggage. With pretentious noise and bus-
tle, these are got into the boats, and then, buffeted by
the waves, pass through the rocks, enclosing a narrow
entrance of barely one hundred feet width, to the
smooth water inside. But the depth shallows to-
ward the landing, and the passenger usually finishes
the perilous journey on the back of a wild-eyed, bare-
legged bandit, anxious for " backsheesh," who puts
the visitor's feet on the landing steps and vigorously

JOPPA 263

pushes him up. Thus the modern voyager enters the
long sought " Promised Land."

The older Joppa spreads along the brow of a rock
over a hundred feet high, and also down its slopes,
and has a maze of narrow, winding alleys, generally
very dirty. The houses are built usually of tufa-
stone, and apparently are windowless, as these open
on the inner courts. There are no sidewalks nor
pavements, and the visitor goes about on a donkey,
unless he walks. There are newer quarters of mod-
ern construction all around the older town, and these
are more attractive, with an environment of farms,
orange and olive groves, fruit gardens, and vineyards,
throughout the suburbs. Three great highways go
out of the town that have existed for thousands of
years, all starting from a little Public Garden — one
leading southeast to Jerusalem, another northeast to
Nabulus, and the third south to Gaza. On the north-
eastern verge, and more than a mile from the harbor,
is the modest station of the railway to Jerusalem,
that at first goes out northeast, and then curves
around to the southeast, as it mounts the hill slope.
This railroad station is one of the structures of which
Joppa is very proud, the line, which was the first rail-
road in the Holy Land, having been opened in 1892,
with imposing ceremonies, conducted by the sultan's
special envoy and the governor of Jerusalem.
Joppa was a slow and rather repulsive town, in a
splendid situation, until recently. Its population

THE MEDITERRANEAN

was barely ten thousand, but the influx of pilgrims
and the growing trade of later years have increased
it to about forty thousand, mostly Moslems, but in-
cluding many Christians and Jews. In some sea-
sons it will have thirty thousand visitors and pil-
grims to Jerusalem passing through. There are few
wheeled vehicles in the place, the methods of trans-
portation being by camel, donkey and the gangs of
brawny porters, who carry baggage and merchandise,
a half dozen often joining in transporting a large
cask. There is an oversupply of homeless dogs, as
in Constantinople and other Turkish towns, for they
are the only scavengers. Joppa has not much to
show. The chief mosque is of scant interest, and the
Arab bazaar, adjoining the Public Garden, gives the
usual exhibition of oriental trafficking. On the
road to Nabulus are the barracks, and the government
buildings, or serai. The colony and school of the
sect known as the " German Temple " are located
at Sarona, farther out that road, it having about
twelve hundred members and being in very flourish-
ing condition. This sect has four colonies, and has
taken advantage of the rich soils of the " Plain, of
Sharon " which gives Joppa such an attractive en-
vironment of blooming fertility.

When Joppa began is unknown, but it was a set-
tlement in the land of the Philistines, which adjoins
the coast of southern Palestine, and at the dawn of
history was a Phoenician colony. The mythological

JOPPA 265

Joppa was the daughter of ^Eolus, and her husband
Avas Cepheus. Their attractive daughter Androm-
eda was chained to the rocks at the harbor, to ap-
pease the envious Xereiads, the sea nymphs, so that
she might be devoured by a sea monster, and this
catastrophe would have happened had she not been
most opportunely released by the gallant Perseus,
who married her, and the place was named in honor
of her mother. Andromeda after death was trans-
lated to Heaven, and changed into the brilliant con-
stellation which bears her name and is adjacent to
the constellation Perseus. Throughout the long
period of Roman domination, according to Pliny, and
in subsequent centuries, the marks of the chains were
shown by which Andromeda was bound, and there
were also huge bones of a gigantic marine dragon,
forty feet long, and these were taken by Pompey to
Rome. It was to Joppa that the prophet Jonah
came, to go aboard the ship for Tarshish, which had
so much storm buffeting, until he was cast out by the
crew and swallowed by the whale, and this led some
of the early Christians to infer that the large bones
might have belonged to Jonah's whale. In the most
ancient traditions Joppa is described as existing be-
fore the deluge. When the Israelites arrived, they
found it a prosperous place, and Joshua gave it to
the tribe of Dan. The Egyptians early dominated
it, and Joppa was one of the Syrian towns captured
by Thotmes III, as inscribed on the pylons at

266 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Karnak. Then the people worshipped the goddess
Keto, a mermaid, having a woman's head and bust
and a fish's tail. Joppa was the port of Jerusalem,
and to it Hiram, King of Tyre, a city on the coast
to the northward, sent his fleets, with timber for
building Solomon's Temple, while five centuries later
the cedars of Lebanon were brought for the building
of Zerubbabel's second temple. Then Joppa was
given to Tyre and Sidon, but in the second century
B. C. it was brought again under Jewish control by
the Maccabees. Pompey subsequently held it for
Rome ; then Caesar restored it to the Jews, and Herod
the Great was made king.

When Jonah sailed from Joppa is unknown, but
Jesus said that the sign of Jonah was the sign for the
people of his own time, for Matthew records his
words : " As Jonah was three days and three nights
in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." It
was an early seat of Christianity, and is repeatedly
referred to in the New Testament. St. Peter had
come from Jerusalem to Lydda, about twelve miles
from Joppa, and there lived Eneas, who had kept his
bed eight years of palsy, and Peter cured him. The
fame of this miracle spread throughout the country,
and led to the invitation to Peter to visit Joppa.
Here lived the gentle and most charitable Tabitha,
which by interpretation was called Dorcas, her home
being in one of the pleasant gardens on the outskirts

JOPPA 267

of the town, near the Jerusalem road. She died,
and they laid her in an upper chamber, sending in
haste for Peter, who came and saw her " and all the
widows stood by him Aveeping, and showing the coats
and garments which Dorcas made while she was with
them." He raised her from the dead, and this sec-
ond miracle established the Christian religion in Jop-
pa. Peter " tarried many days in Joppa with one
Simon, a tanner, whose house was by the seaside."
It was on the roof of this house that the Apostle had
his famous vision of the sheet let down from Heaven
containing all manner of beasts clean and unclean.
Down near the lighthouse, in the southern part of the
town, is the site of this house, now occupied by the
small Mosque of the Bastion, which gives an elegant
view over the sea. The fame of Peter's miracles led
to his being summoned to CaBsarea, then the capital,
by Cornelius, the centurion, who was stationed there,
to preach the Gospel to him, this being the first re-
corded preaching of the Gospel by Jewish Christians
to Gentiles. The Romans captured Joppa after-
ward, and Cestius destroyed it. Then it became a
haunt of pirates, and was again sacked by Vespasian.
It was generally afterward held by the Christians,
having a succession of bishops, when the Arab in-
vasion came, and they controlled until the Crusades.
The Knights of St. John held it, in the twelfth cen-
tury, until Saladin's brother captured it 1187, and it
was ultimately held by Moslems and Christians until

THE MEDITERRANEAN

destroyed in 1257. In the middle ages it was deca-
dent, but revived in the eighteenth century, and Na-
poleon's troops captured it in 1799. The English
soon afterward got it, and built strong fortifications,
since which time it has been under Turkish rule, al-
though the walls have fallen in decay. Inland from
Joppa is the luxuriantly fertile Plain of Sharon,
brilliant in springtime with the vivid " red rose of
Sharon," which is a large anemone.

C^SAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL.

Joppa is one of the chief ports of entrance to
Syria, this name being derived from the Babylonian
Sum, with which the ancient Assyria was closely re-
lated. The title is traced as early as thirty cen-
turies before Christ, in application to the territory
between Media and Babylonia and the Mediterra-
nean. The Arabs call Syria Esli-Sliam, the country
to the " left " of Arabia, and the Turkish name is
Suristan. The earliest wave of migration to these
shores was by the Canaanites and Amorites, of
whom the Phoenicians were a type, while other Se-
mitic races, the Israelites and Moabites, appeared in-
land adjacent to the Jordan valley, though the Phil-
istines, on the southern Palestine coast, were not
Semitic. Syria extends about three hundred and
eighty miles along the eastern coast of the Mediterra-
nean, and from time immemorial this land between
Egypt and the Euphrates has been a battlefield of

CLESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 269

the great powers of western Asia on the one hand,
against those of Europe, Egypt and Africa on the
other. It has been also a territory, which the trad-
ing caravans of these vdrious nations had to traverse,
and consequently its place in history has been of the
highest interest. The country is marked by moun-
tain ranges, stretching from north to south in parallel
ridges, connecting the Taurus of Cilicia, in Asia
Minor, with the Eed Sea ranges, various summits
rising to a conspicuous height, two in the Lebanon
exceeding 10,000 feet. The mountains are mostly
of limestone, but there are giant peaks of basalt, es-
pecially in the Hauran district, and this basalt, when
decomposed, makes rich soils. There flow out nu-
merous rivers, the chief being the Orontes, falling into
the sea near ancient Seleucia ; the Litani rising
closely to the former, but flowing farther southward,
and emptying near Tyre; and the Jordan, entirely
inland, the great river of southern Syria. Like the
Jordan, most of the other streams rising on the
eastern side of the Syrian watershed terminate in
inland lakes. The Mediterranean shore is a mari-
time plain, narrow to the northward of Tyre, and
broadening as it extends toward the south. In the
neighborhood of Joppa, and for some distance, both
south and north, it is about six to eight miles wide,
and is known as the " Plain of Sharon." South of
this the maritime plain is the land of the Philistines,
embracing a wider surface, and gradually developing

270 THE MEDITERRANEAN

into the wilderness of Shur. Inland is a mountain
range, a prolongation of the Lebanon, draining west-
ward into the Mediterranean and eastward into the
Jordan. The Jordan valley is very deep, culmi-
nating in the Dead Sea, to which the Jordan falls
2,500 feet in its course, the surface of this remark-
able sea being 1,300 feet lower than the Mediterra-
nean, and its depth of water in some places is also
1,300 feet. Eastward of the Jordan is a mountain
range and plateau, being the prolongation of the
Anti-Lebanon ridge, a land of fertility, which fades
off into the almost unexplored region farther east-
ward.

Joppa is on the southern verge of ancient Phoeni-
cia, and the coast to the northward, for a considerable
distance, has no harbor, being for miles rock-
bound, and having the fertile Plain of Sharon ex-
tending back from the elevated shore. The ISTahr-el-
Auja, a river of copious flow, comes out through the
rocks, a short distance above Joppa. Thirty-five
miles north of Joppa, at Kaisariyeh, are the ruins of
ancient Caesarea, which was the Roman capital,
founded by Herod the Great. This famous king of
the Jews was the son of Antipater, who had been an
ally of Julius Ca?sar, and Herod, finding favor with
Augustus, reigned from the year 40 to 4 B. C., Christ
being born in the year that Herod died. He was an
enterprising but cruel monarch, and his final infamy
was the massacre of the children at Bethlehem.

(LESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 271

Herod wanted to get a safe harbor on the coast, as he
had no means of removing the rocks at Joppa, and
improving that place, so he established at Strato's
Tower, then an obscure village, his beautiful capital
and port, making an artificial harbor with great labor
and cost, as the materials had to be brought from
afar. He built a long mole two hundred feet wide,
and composed of huge stone blocks mostly fifty feet
long. This gave protection from the south winds,
and was curved around so as to make the harbor en-
trance from the northward. Upon it were various
towers, the chief of these being named for Drusus,
the son-in-law of Caesar. Stately edifices and a tem-
ple, visible far out at sea, surrounded this artificial
harbor, and its security attracted a large trade, which
in the course of a few years made Caasarea, thus
named in honor of Caesar, the most noted port of the
eastern Mediterranean, and the chief city of Pales-
tine.

Caasarea is frequently referred to in the New Tes-
tament. To it came St. Philip to preach, and he
lived here many years. The centurion Cornelius
summoned Peter hither, and he preached and made
the first Gentile baptism. St. Paul was at Csesarea,
and was held a prisoner for two years, appearing be-
fore Felix and Festus, whom he " almost persuaded
to be a Christian." St. Paul was sent a prisoner
from Csesarea to Rome, there to preach the Gospel.
It was in the vast theatre, built by Herod the Great,

272 THE MEDITERRANEAN

which faced the sea, that his royal grandson, Herod
Agrippa, permitted himself to be hailed as a god,
thus bringing vengeance from Heaven. A deputa-
tion had come to him from Tyre and Sidon, suing for
peace. Herod Agrippa proceeded, early in the
morning, to the theatre, to receive them, seating him-
self on the throne, dressed in a robe of silver tissue,
which reflected the bright rays of the -rising sun with
such lustre as to dazzle the spectators. When the
king made his address to the deputation, the crowd
shouted that it was not the voice of a man but of a
god. The vain king accepted this tribute, but look-
ing upward, he saw, with superstitious alarm, an
owl perched over his head. He had been forewarned
that if he saw this owl, his death would follow in the
space of five days. He left in terror, and the Scrip-
ture says " the angel of the Lord smote him," The
Acts recording that after excruciating torments " he
was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." This
was in the year 44 of the Christian era. Herod
Agrippa II, who was the last monarch of the family
of Herod the Great, was the king before whom St.
Paul pleaded, when he appealed to Rome, and was
sent there a prisoner. Csesarea was early recognized
as a leading Christian city, having the famous
Origen as a teacher and Eusebius as bishop. The
Moslems took it after a seven years' siege, and it was
captured by Baldwin, during the Crusades, when it
was still a city of importance. He secured a rich

(LESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 273

booty, including the prized bowl of green crystal,
which was said to have been used at the last supper
and in the medieval minstrelsy was hailed as the
" holy grail." The Sultan Beibars destroyed Csesa-
rea in the thirteenth century, and it is now only a
desolate ruin, most of the materials having been car-
ried off for building purposes to Acre and other
towns. A little way northward the Nahr-ez-Zerka,
or " blue river," flows out to the coast, an aqueduct,
higher up, conveying its waters to Csesarea. This
stream was called by Pliny the Crocodile river, as
they abounded in it, and were still seen there in re-
cent years. Farther north is the village of Tautura,
on the site of the Phrenician town of Dor, which is
mentioned in the books of Joshua and the Judges.
Here the ancient people found the murex, the noted
purple shellfish, which provided the prized Tyrian
purple dye. The place became a ruin long ago.
Farther on is Athlit, the Crusaders' stronghold, built
on a mountain spur protruding between two small
bays, which was their renowned " Castle of the Pil-
grims." It commanded the road by the sea, at the
foot of the mountain ridge, having here the narrow
pass through the cliffs, known as Petra Incisa, or the
" hewn-out rock." The Saracens captured and
destroyed the castle in the thirteenth century, and
much of its building material has been taken to Acre.
The present occupiers of all these ancient places, like

their ancestors, still find them profitable quarries.
VOL. 11—18

274 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The long ridge of Mount Carmel extends from the
interior toward the northwest, and its terminating
promontory, rising magnificently from the sea, juts
out north of Athlit as a noble bastion seen from afar.
This is one of the most impressive of the Syrian
mountain ridges, the allusions to it being frequent in
the Bible, and its beauty is extolled in Isaiah and the
Song of Solomon. It has been a sacred mountain in
the history of Israel, and the name comes from its
fertility, meaning " the vineyard of the land." It is
a vast rolling parkland, deeply furrowed externally
by numerous ravines, while its limestone formation
produces countless caves within. The massive ridge
pushes abruptly into the sea, as a grand headland,
rising nearly six hundred feet from the water, which
surrounds it on three sides, while behind, and en-
closed by it, is the spacious Bay of Acre. From here
the ridge extends southeast for about sixteen miles,
and then breaks down somewhat precipitously into
the lower hills of Samaria. The highest elevation is
near the southeastern end, beyond Esfia, rising over
eighteen hundred feet. Upon the southwestern side
it slopes rather gradually toward the Plain of Shar-
on, while on the other side the descent is steep to the
noted brook Kishon, which flows out of the Plain of
Esdraelon northwest, along the mountain base, to the
Bay of Acre. The fertility and heavy foliage
growth on the mountain slopes, aided by the profuse
dew falling every night, make the surface a delicious

CLESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 275

green throughout the year, which is unusual in this
country of protracted droughts. It is also fragrant
with flowers, but whatever might have been the pop-
ulation and cultivation in the Bible days, Mount Car-
mel is now largely a wilderness, though still most
beautiful.

Carmel was the " Mount of God " from the ear-
liest historical period, and an altar to Jehovah ex-
isted on its summit before contact with the people of
Tyre had introduced here the worship of their pagan
idol Baal. In the ninth century B. C. King Ahab
of Israel married Jezebel, the daughter of King
Ethbaal of Tyre, and under her influence seized
Naboth's vineyard for a garden grove for Baal's wor-
ship, and introduced the complete Tyrian idolatry,
being punished for the idolatry by over three years of
famine. The prophet Elijah, who had long de-
nounced this worship, summoned the priests of Baal
and Astarte to a test on Mount Carmel. The priests
in vain invoked their idols, but the burnt offering of
Elijah was licked up by fire descending from Heav-
en, whereupon, at the command of the prophet, the
people slew the priests. Here subsequently came
Elisha, during his prophetic career. Pythagoras vis-
ited the mountain, and Tacitus tells of a visit by Ves-
pasian to consult the " God of Carmel," finding here
an altar without a temple or an image. In the early
Christian age many monks made their homes in its
caverns, and from these were formed the monastic

276 THE MEDITERRANEAN

order of the Carmelites, originating in the twelfth
century, and in subsequent years spreading over Eu-
rope. Here also came the French king St. Louis on
a pilgrimage, and the English monk, Simon Stock of
Kent, was general of the Carmelite order, and after
living twenty years here was buried on the moun-
tain. The Turks made the monastic church a
mosque. Napoleon used it as a hospital when he
besieged Acre, and it was burnt by the Turks in
1821, though afterward restored to the monks and
rebuilt. This monastery of Mar Elias (the Greek
name for Elijah) stands at 560 feet elevation above
the sea, upon the northwestern extremity of the
mountain, the church having a conspicuous dome.
The outlook is magnificent, covering the sea from
Ca?sarea northward beyond Tyre, with beautiful
Acre nestling under the hills, northeastward across
the bay, and having a noble background of distant
mountains, embracing the ranges of Lebanon and
Hermon and the heights beyond the Jordan. Al-
most at one's feet, down by the shore, is the village of
Haifa, nestling in its luxuriant bowers of palms and
olives.

About twenty monks reside in the monastery, and
they receive all visitors hospitably, having good ac-
commodations for pilgrims. Below the high altar is
a cave, where Elijah is said to have dwelt, J
and farther down the hillside is a larger cavern, '
partly artificial, where, according to tradition,

CJESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 277

the Holy Family slept on their return journey
from the flight into Egypt. The mountain pro-
duces many petrifactions, and melon-shaped
clusters of crystals known as geodes. The local
explanation is that these were fruits petrified
by Elijah for a breach of hospitality. He was pass-
ing a large garden, and, seeing the owner gathering
the ripened fruit, asked for some of it to quench his
thirst. The owner replied that it was not fruit he
saw, but heaps of stones; whereupon Elijah replied
" Be it so ! " and at once the fruits in the garden,
whether gathered or ungathered, turned to stones.
From the monastery, all the way to Esfia, the ridge
of Carmel is almost uninhabited. Upon the summit,
a few miles from the convent, is El Marrakah, or the
" place of the burning," where Elijah had his meet-
ing with the priests, there being four hundred and
fifty of them who worshipped Baal, and four hun-
dred other " prophets of the groves," or priests of
Astarte. The Druses, who now live in the neigh-
borhood, have an annual sacrifice here, evidently tra-
ditionary from the time of Elijah. A small chapel
is on the highest part, and below is the shapeless ruin
of an old time castle, having near it a spring, and at
this place there continued all day the anxious im-
ploring of the army of priests of Baal and Astarte,
that their gods should make some sign which would
indicate the termination of the protracted drought
that during over three years had afflicted the stub-

278 THE MEDITERRANEAN

born King Ahab and his people. These pagans im-
plored in vain, and the weird and commanding figure
of the prophet watched and worried them, until they
gave up in despair. Then came his turn, and, an-
swering his prayer, Jehovah sent down the fire that
licked up the sacrifice, the stones of the altar, and
all the water in the surrounding trench, which the
spring had provided.

From this commanding height there is spread in
full view, off to the eastward and southeastward, the
wide plain of Jezreel, now known by the Greek name
of Esdraelon, with its distant border of mountains,
including Tabor's dome-like summit, beyond Naza-
reth, and farther south in the valley Ahab's city of
Jezreel and palace and Jezebel's temple and grove of
Baal. At the base of Carmel, in its deep valley,
flows the winding brook Kishon, down to which the
avenging prophet drove the discomfited priests, and
slew them there. Then Ahab, at Elijah's bidding,
ascended to the mountain top again, and with his face
upon the earth Elijah prayed for the consummation
of the miracle, while his servant was sent to the high-
est point of all, where the western sea was in full
view, but the sky was cloudless. Seven times the
servant went up and looked, but saw nothing, and
the prophet still prayed. Then the servant saw, on
the far horizon, a little cloud not bigger than a man's
hand, which grew apace, and soon the whole horizon
was overcast. The winds blew and the rains came.

C^SAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 279

Ahab was frightened, and descended the mountain
side with the prophet, the king entering his chariot
and starting off, fearing the Kishon would swell to
a torrent, and he would not be able to ford it. Away
he galloped toward Jezreel, whereupon Elijah girt
his mantle round about him, and, amid the rushing
storm, ran before the king's chariot, all the way,
about eighteen miles. Ahab seems to have relented,
but Jezebel was implacable. She threatened Eli-
jah's life, and then the weird prophet made his flight
to Beersheba, and thence far into the Syrian desert
and the Sinai peninsula, ultimately taking refuge in
the cave upon Horeb. Here the voice of the Lord
again called him to duty, and vengeance ultimately
overtook the king, and afterward the queen. Ahab
fell in battle beyond the Jordan, while several years
later, Jehu, the avenger, sent by Elijah at the Lord's
command, slew his son Ahaziah, who had become the
king, and annihilated all Ahab's house. Ahaziah, at
his mother's behest, had still persisted in idolatries,
and, meeting with a misfortune, he sent messengers to
consult the oracle of Beelzebub at Ekron. Suddenly
the giant figure of Elijah appeared in their path, de-
nounced the idolatry, and commanded them to go
back to the King Ahaziah and announce to him that
for the appeal to the idol rather than to the God of
Israel the king should surely die. Elijah had re-
tired to the summit of Mount Carmel, and the an-
gered king sent a captain and fifty men to apprehend

280 THE MEDITERRANEAN

him. The captain addressed Elijah : " Thou man
of God, the king hath bidden thee to come down."
He replied, " If I be a man of God, let fire come
down from Heaven and consume thee and thy com-
pany." The fire came, the company perished, and
also another fifty, who had been sent after them. A
third fifty also went to Carmel, but their captain re- '
lented and humbly implored forgiveness, whereupon
Elijah sent Jehu, the avenger, to Jezreel, who slew
Ahaziah and all of his house, the servants throwing
Jezebel out of the palace window, whereupon the
horses trod her to death, and the dogs in the street
devoured her body, thus fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.
Elijah was translated to Heaven in a chariot of
fire amid a whirlwind. He had been the prophet of
vengeance, but his mantle was cast upon his disciple
and successor, the gentler Elisha, who for about sixty
years was the prophet of mercy in Israel. He too
became a sojourner on Mount Carmel. The good
woman of Shunem, in the Plain of Esdraelon, had
befriended him, and she was childless. Elisha con-
ferred the boon of motherhood upon her, and her boy
grew, but ultimately sickened and died, and in her
despair she sought the prophet on the mountain top.'
He wished to send his servant with his prophet's
staff, but the good woman would not return without
him. Elisha therefore went with her, and entering
the chamber, where the dead boy lay, he prayed and
stretched himself upon the bed, when at length the

OESAREA AND MOUNT CARMEL 281

boy's eyes opened, and be was restored, a living
being, to tbe bappy mother.

At tbe foot of tbe Carmel ridge, near tbe southern
extremity of the Bay of Acre, is tbe present seaport
of the people who live on or near the mountain, the
town of Haifa, having about fifteen thousand inhabit-
ants. It was the Greek colony of Sycaminum, and
has grown much in recent years, through tbe stimu-
lation given by the colony of German Templars
which started here in 1883, having absorbed most of
the trade of Acre on the opposite shore of the bay.
Here is the grave of Mrs. Lawrence Olyphant, who
died in 1886. At Haifa, is being constructed the
Jewish Institute of Technology, founded by Mr. Ja-
cob H. Schiff's gift of $100,000, for the introduction
of modern ideas and methods in Palestine. A road
is constructed, around the semicircular shore of the
bay, to Acre, and on the way crosses the mouth of
the Kishon, which is about a hundred feet wide. At
the northeastern verge of the bay, on a protruding
promontory, is the once famous stronghold of the
Crusaders, now, however, somewhat decayed. The
Phrenician town of Accho, the name meaning " hot
sand," is mentioned in the book of Judges, and a
Jewish colony was established here later. Under the
Egyptian rule it was called Ptolemies, and the Ro-
mans subsequently held it, St. Paul then spending a
day here. For several centuries it was ruled by a
Christian bishop, but the Arabs captured it in the sev-

282 THE MEDITERRANEAN

enth century. The Crusaders came in 1104, under
Baldwin, and they strengthened the fortifications,
and made it their chief seaport in the Holy Land.
Saladin drove them out in 1187, and two years later
Guy of Lusignan besieged it, at the opening of the
third Crusade. This siege lasted till 1191, when
Richard Co3ur de Lion brought reinforcements, and
the place was taken July 12th. Saladin promised to
ransom the Moslem prisoners, but the money was not
forthcoming, and Richard promptly massacred twen-
ty-five hundred of them. In the subsequent peace
the Crusaders were allowed to hold a strip of land
along the coast, and the town, then called Akka, be-
came their headquarters. Jerusalem being aban-
doned, the Knights of St. John transferred their cap-
ital here, and by them it was named St. Jean d'Acre.
They held it about a century, when the Turks again
captured it, though the pilgrims to Jerusalem still
made it a landing place. The Turks have ever since
been in control,- the famous Jezzar Pasha, in the
eighteenth century, having greatly improved it,
bringing building materials from various adjacent
ancient cities. Napoleon besieged it in 1799, the
English aiding the Turks in a successful defence.
Acre has been so sadly battered in repeated conflicts
that it now has few antiquities to show, but there are
interesting remains of the Crusaders' ramparts; and
a fine mosque was built by Jezzar, its handsome col-
umns brought from the ruins of Csesarea, the builder,

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 283

who died in 1804, being buried in the court. The
old residence of the Knights of St. John is now a
hospital, and there- are some remains of their church.
The port of Acre still has trade, but sand deposits
have gradually shoaled the harbor, and the popula-
tion now is barely ten thousand.

THE PLAIN OF ESDKAELON.

From the Bay of Acre and the long ridge of Mount
Carmel stretches far inland the " Great Plain," Es-
draelon. This was the Old Testament Plain of
Megiddo, the ancient plain of Jezreel, and is now
known by the Arabs as the Merj ibn Amir, or the
" meadow of the son of Amir." It is an extensive
plateau, generally elevated about two hundred and
fifty feet above sea level, marshy in places, but re-
markably fertile, the rich, blackish soil being mostly
decomposed volcanic rock. From the summit of
Mount Carmel the view over this extensive plain is
magnificent, when the generous rains of spring make
it a vast expanse of the most delicious green, varied
here and there by the brown, plowed fields that are
bordered by tall cactus hedges. The brook Kishon
drains much of the surface into the Bay of Acre. To
the northward also flows in the river Bolus, where,
according to Pliny, the ancients made glass from the
river sands, and Josephus writes that there once
stood on its bank a monument to Memnon. From
the far eastern side of the plain, the narrow valley of

284 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Jezreel and another ravine are cut down in the bor-
dering hills and descend through them to the river
Jordan. Esdraelon is triangular, the eastern side,
which is the longest, extending about twenty-four
miles. Upon the southern verge is the village of
Lejjun, which was the Roman Legio and the Biblical
Megiddo. It is in a commanding position, upon the
passes leading down from the Samarian hills to the
plain, through which comes out a great caravan route
that from time immemorial has led from the farther
eastern lands toward Egypt. The recent Zionist
movement is making a numerous Jewish immigration
to Esdraelon, buying farms from the Moslems, intro-
ducing modern agricultural methods and causing a
rise in land values. The Jews are said to have se-
cured the greater part of the arable lands.

All the ancient races, Canaanites, Israelites, Egyp-
tians, fortified this stronghold of Megiddo. Upon
the neighboring western hill, the Tel el Mutesellim,
a continuation of Carmel, recent excavations have
disclosed an old castle, dating from the twentieth
century B. C., having a brick encircling wall nearly
thirty feet thick, and various gems and seals of Bab-
ylonian origin have been found. Its strategic posi-
tion has made this Plain of Esdraelon the greatest
battleground in the Holy Land. It was here the
Sidonian Canaanites so long oppressed Israel, until
the inspired Deborah aroused the afflicted people, and
Barak gathered the force on Mount Tabor, on its

Village of Jenin and Plain of Esdraelon.

THE PLAIX OF ESDRAELON 285

eastern border, behind Nazareth, which marched
down upon the plain, and aided by a fierce storm of
rain and hail, that beat full in the faces of Sisera's
host, drove them into the Kishon torrent, defeating
them with great slaughter. Sisera escaped, but as
he lay fast asleep, and weary after the day's battle,
the nail was driven by Jael into his brain which
killed him. Then Deborah and Barak sang the song
of triumph that immortalized them, and we are told
" the land had rest forty years."

Another victory of Israel came upon this plain,
when Gideon led the tribes in repelling the Midi-
anites, who made repeated marauding incursions
from the eastern side of Jordan. The invaders this
time had come in such numbers that the Israelites
were affrighted and would not fight, so that Gideon
had only three hundred men on whom he could de-
pend. These he provided with trumpets, and lamps
concealed in earthen pitchers, dividing the men into
three bodies, who attacked the Midianite camp at
night, from different points, noisily breaking the
pitchers, blowing the trumpets, waving the lamps,
and crying out loudly their slogan : " The sword of
the Lord and of Gideon." The surprised and scared
invaders, in confusion turned their arms upon each
other, supposing they were surrounded by an enor-
mous army, and fled in dismay, all Israel soon fol-
lowing them and chastising them. Later came
another invasion of the plain, this time by the Philis-

286 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tines from the south, pursuing the hapless Saul, who
had placed his camp on Mount Gilboa, at the eastern
edge of the plain. In his despair, Saul went in dis-
guise to consult the Witch of Endor, and she called
up the spirit of the dead Samuel, whom Saul had so
often disobeyed, and Samuel pronounced his doom.
" To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me ; the
Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand
of the Philistines." The battle came, Saul's sons
were slain, he was wounded, and afterward fell upon
his own sword. David's poignant lament for his
bosom friend Jonathan, the son of Saul, is one of the
gems of the Scriptures. There came here again a
defeat for Israel, in the seventh century B. C., when
Josiah was king. Pharaoh Necho, of Egypt, was
carrying on a war with Assyria, and his army
marched northward, through the land of the Philis-
tines and over the Plain of Sharon, around the north-
western promontory of Carmel, and across Kishon to
the Plain of Esdraelon, intending to cross the Jordan
eastward. Josiah, under bad advice, attacked the
Egyptian king and was defeated, being slain in the
battle. Thus Israel passed under the Egyptian yoke,
and in the next century, Nebuchadnezzar captured
Jerusalem, conquered Israel, destroyed the temple,
and carried the people off captives to Babylon. The
latest conflict on this famous battleground came
when the French under Napoleon besieged Acre in
1799, and the Turks gathered here a large army of

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 287

various races to raise the siege. Napoleon, in his
masterly method, aided by the brilliant Kleber and
Murat, attacked and defeated the Turks near Me-
giddo, drove them down to the swollen Jordan, and
utterly routed their nondescript army. The con-
flicts are not yet ended on this noted arena, if St.
John's prediction, in the Revelation, of the forthcom-
ing battle of " Armageddon," means, as most com-
mentators suppose, this historic " Plain of Me-
giddo."

Esdraelon is full of localities mentioned in the
Bible to which visitors now go, and view the existing
rather decadent Arab villages with keen interest,
inspired by the past. Upon the eastern verge of the
plain is the barren ridge of Gilboa, broken down at
its northern end by the vale of Jezreel, through which
a little stream flows eastward down to the Jordan.
Beyond is the extinct crater of the Tel el Ajjul, while
to the northward rises the magnificent dome of
Mount Tabor, elevated 1,850 feet. This range of
hills, anciently marked the frontier of the tribe of
Issachar, who lived on the plain ; and Tabor and Car-
mel were the two splendid outposts on the east and
west, both being covered with verdure to their sum-
mits. Tabor is the Arab Jebel el Tur, the " Moun-
tain of Purity," and was always regarded as sacred.
The prophet Jeremiah thus gives the prediction of
Jehovah, in which the two mountains are referred to.
" As I live, saith the King, whose name is the Lord

288 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of Hosts, surely as Tabor is among the mountains,
and as Carmel is by the sea, so shall He come."
Down on the plain, in front of Gilboa, is the Arab
village of Jenin, which was ancient Gannim, where
Jesus healed the ten lepers, of whom but one returned
to tell his gratitude. To the northward, at the en-
trance of the gorge, and on a northwestern spur of
Gilboa, giving a fine outlook over the plain, is Zerin,
another small village with heaps of ruins, yet preserv-
ing a medieval tower, built by the Crusaders, that
gives a good outlook, the hill on which it stands being
partly artificial. This was Ahab's splendid capital
of Jezreel, where he had his great palace of ivory,
and Naboth's vineyard was to the eastward. There
always was a watchtower here, overlooking the plain
as far as Carmel, and it is mentioned in the book of
Kings.

A little way northward is Sulem, the ancient Shu-
nem, where Elisha brought the Shunemite woman's
son to life. On its northern border rises the Little
Hermon Mount, elevated nearly seventeen hundred
feet, with a village near the top. A precipitous
ledge of rocks is pointed out, on the hillside, as the
place from which the jSTazarenes, mentioned by Luke,
attempted to cast Jesus down headlong. On the
northern verge of the Little Hermon is Nain, now
only a small collection of huts, with a Franciscan
chapel. Here Jesus touched the bier and brought
the widow's son back to life. To the eastward, be-

Ancient Tower of Zerin, the ancient Jezreel.

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 289

tween Ajjul and Tabor, is another little village,
Endur, where Saul went to see the witch of Endor.
From here the streams go eastward, through deep
ravines to the Jordan. At all these places the noble
Mount Tabor is in full view, with ruins of structures
of various ages covering much of the top and slopes.
In the third century B. C. Antiochus the Great
founded a town on the summit, which Josephus after-
ward fortified, and in Christ's time the top was
covered by houses. The legend is that Tabor was
the place of the Transfiguration, but this is not
verified, though some fathers of the church, among
them Origen and St. Jerome, speak of it, and in the
sixth century three churches were erected in memory
of St. Peter's three tabernacles. The Crusaders
built a church and a monastery on the summit, and
when the Turks drove them out in the thirteenth
century, the infidels fortified the hill top, which the
Christians afterward unsuccessfully besieged. The
Turks, however, found the place difficult to hold, and
dismantled it. Everything now is in ruin, there
being remains of a wall, enclosing about four square
miles of the summit, with many large blocks of stone,
and a ruined castle, church and chapels. The latter
are within the precincts of a more modern Latin
monastery, and there are also a Greek church and
monastery. Each of these monasteries claims to be
upon the actual site of the Transfiguration. To the

westward of Tabor, a little way, is the home of
VOL. 11—19

290 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Christ's childhood, En Nasireh, once the despised
town of Nazareth.

NAZARETH.

Nazareth is within an amphitheatre of hills,
thought to be the crater of an extinct volcano, its flat-
roofed houses and narrow streets being on a hill slope
that rises about five hundred feet above the valley.
It has about twenty thousand population, the major-
ity Christians, and its appearance is very pleasing,
especially in the rainy season, when the white walls
of the houses are in sharp contrast with the delicious
green of the gardens that are all about, appearing, as
has been well said, " like a handful of pearls in a
goblet of emerald." From the summit of the hill
slope is a splendid view, far away over the Plain
of Esdraelon, with the long ridge of Mount Carmel
and the brilliant blue Mediterranean in the distance.
Two places of great interest are in the town, the
" Virgin's Well " on the hill slope, and the Latin
Monastery and Church of the Annunciation. The
great historical event of the Annunciation, by the
angel to the Virgin, that she was to be the mother of
Jesus, is recorded by St. Luke, but no evidence exists
connecting it with any particular spot in Nazareth.
Consequently, the authorities differ on the subject of
its actual location. After the Roman Emperor Con-
stantine became a Christian there began to be heard
traditions of the localization of the Annunciation,

NAZARETH 291

and in the sixth century a church was built. The
Crusaders made much of the place, and built several
churches, and the outcome was that both the Greek
and the Roman (Latin) churches claimed to possess
the actual spot of the Annunciation. The Greek
location is at the Virgin's Spring, while the Latin
location is in a cave, under their Church of the An-
nunciation. This church is within the precincts of
their monastery, and was built in its present form in
the eighteenth century, being a small church about
seventy feet long, with a vestibule called the Angel's
Chapel, having two altars dedicated to the Angel
Gabriel and St. Joachim, the Virgin's father. The
high altar bears a Latin inscription, announcing
" Here the Word was made flesh," and there are two
columns, one dedicated to Gabriel, marking the place
where the Angel stood, and the other to Mary, show-
ing where she stood. The latter is a piece of a red
granite column, hanging from the ceiling, and said
to be miraculously supported, exactly above the spot
where she received the angel's message. Adjoining
is the Chapel of St. Joseph, containing the " Altar
of the Flight into Egypt," and on the outside are the
" Kitchen of the Virgin " and the " Workshop of
Joseph," where he is said to have labored as a carpen-
ter.

The legend is that on this site stood, in 1291, the
house formerly occupied by the Virgin, and it was
in danger of desecration by the Moslems, who had

292 THE MEDITERRANEAN

captured the town, on May 10th. Suddenly the
house was lifted up bodily in the air, and borne by
angels, was carried far over the land and the sea to
Dalmatia, where it rested at a village near Fiume.
A few years subsequently it was again miraculously
raised, and had another angelic transportation, in a
night, across the Adriatic Sea into Italy, landing in
a laurel grove, on a hill overlooking the shore, a short
distance southeast of Ancona. This place was
named, from the laurel grove, Loreto, and here the
Casa Santa, or " Holy House," still is kept under the
massive dome of a large church. It is a small and
plain stone building, about twenty-eight by twelve
feet, and a little more than thirteen feet high. This
precious relic is surrounded by a lofty and splendidly
decorated marble screen, and is visited by large num-
bers of pilgrims. In 1471 the church declared this
legend of the angelic transportation to be true, and
the " Holy House of Mary," at Loreto, has ever since
been the object of adoration by the devout. The
other location of the " Virgin's Spring," at Nazareth,
popularly known as " Mary's Well," is on the north
side of the Greek Church of the Annunciation, upon
the lower hill slope, the water flowing through the
church, which is built half underground, and the
stream passing the altar. The Greek pilgrims to
this sacred spring get the water through an opening
in the conduit, and bathe their eyes and hands. The
conduit leads to " Mary's Well," at a lower level on

NAZARETH 293

the hill slope, where the women of Nazareth still fill
their pitchers, as they have done for many centuries,
this being the only spring the town possesses. Both
Jesus and Mary must, in their day, have frequented
this spot and used the water. There is always a busy
crowd at the spring, and it is the place for the general
washing of clothes, by the townsfolk, and also of the
children. The site of the synagogue, where Jesus is
said to have ministered, is also shown, although the
old buildings long ago disappeared, and the present
structure is a comparatively modern Greek church.
Many religious denominations have churches and
missionary stations in Nazareth, for the connexion
of the once despised town with the life of the youth-
ful Jesus and with the Virgin gives it the greatest
present interest. The thought that this beautiful
place inspires, in its connexion with the Blessed
Mother, is apostrophized in Wordsworth's charming
sonnet :

Mother! whose Virgin bosom was uncrossed
With the least shade or thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified;

Our tainted nature's solitary boast;

Purer than foam on central ocean tossed;

Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon

Before her wane begins, on heav'n's blue coast;

Thy image falls to earth. Yet same, I ween,
Not unforgiven, the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in whom did blend
All that was mix'd and reconciled in thee

294 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

TYRE AND SIDON.

From the brook Kishon, along the shores of the
Bay of Acre, and northward to Tyre, extends the
fertile plain of Tyre for twenty miles, this being a
narrow strip spreading back inland a few miles from
the coast. Athwart it, from the interior, comes out a
rugged ridge, ending in three long promontories,
stretched into the sea, and having a breadth of about
eight miles. These three bold headlands, mostly
composed of white cliffs, are the Ras el Musheinfeh,
the highest and boldest; the Ras el Nakurah, or
"Ladder of Tyre"; and the Ras el Abyad. Past
them goes a rough and toilsome road for the traveller
along the coast, with various breakneck descents, the
sea beating wildly on the rocks below. This is the
border of the ancient land of Phrenicia, that extended
over a hundred miles from Jaffa, far northward be-
yond Beyrout, along a coast of promontories and
islands, on which the maritime people of that day
built their ports, because they were thus defended
from mainland attacks. The name was given .by
the Greeks, for in the earlier songs of Homer, and
also in the book of Genesis, the people are called
Sidonians, from their then prominent city of Sidon,
which included Tyre in its government. Originally
these people came from Arabia, and they claimed for

TYRE AND SIDON 295

their race an antiquity of thirty thousand years, call-
ing themselves Canaanites and their land Canaan,
which is also quoted in Scripture. They were skil-
ful navigators, and steered their ships at night, by
the guidance of the North Pole Star, which the
Greeks consequently called the Phosnician Star.
Their maritime enterprise soon gave them control of
the entire commerce of the Mediterranean, exchang-
ing the products of Babylon and the interior of Asia
with Egypt, Africa and all the western nations to
and beyond the Pillars of Hercules, thus, in their ex-
pansion of commerce, founding many colonies.
They were shipbuilders, slave-dealers, producers of
fine goods, and of the wonderful purple dyestuffs
then so famous, had a good knowledge of mathe-
matics, and took the Semitic alphabet wherever they
went, making it the foundation of all the western
alphabets.

They were pagans, worshipping the sun god Baal,
the moon goddess Astarte, and her son Melkart, who
was synonymous with the Biblical Moloch. Their
form of worship, like that of the Hebrews, included
sacrifices, and it was the borrowing and adaptation
of the Phoenician idolatry, vices and luxurious
habits, by the Israelites, that provoked the repeated
denunciations of the prophets and brought such con-
dign punishments upon the chosen people. Astarte
was the goddess of fertility, and during their suc-
cessful career the Phosnicians spread the cult of

296 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Adonis throughout Asia Minor, the slain and
mourned Adonis taking a prominent part in their
religious ceremonies, the alternation of life and
death, thus typified, being afterward adopted in the
Grecian mythology, in Venus and Adonis. This god
was the son of Myrrha, who was the daughter of
Cinyras, King of Cyprus, and born in Arabia. Be-
fore his birth his mother was transformed into the
tree, producing the fragrant gum called by her name.
He grew up a model of manly beauty, and was pas-
sionately loved by Aphrodite (Venus). Hunting
was his favorite pastime, until having gone to the
chase, against her entreaties, he was mortally
wounded by a wild boar. Venus, coming too late
to the rescue, was only able to change his blood into
flowers. Going after death to the under world, he
was beloved by Proserpine, and the rival ladies con-
testing for his possession, Zeus ordered that he should
spend four months of the year with each and the
remaining four months as he chose. This alternat-
ing abode, above and under the earth's surface, was
typical of the planting of seed, which in due season
rises in a new growth above the ground. Hence, the
Phrenician worship, and the Greek myth, following
it, represented the union of Venus and Adonis on
one day and the sorrow at his death on the next day,
the women performing the funeral rites over small
images of the god. They also planted quick grow-
ing herbs, and threw them into springs after the bur-

TYRE AXD SIDON 297

ial. It was a worship of the reproductive principles
in the plants, which after a short life die and are
buried, but again spring up into new life. The
name has a Semitic derivation, Adon meaning
" lord," and the worship was widespread throughout
all the eastern lands. The kings of the various
Phoenician towns claimed descent from various gods.
Tyre and Sidon were their chief cities, for a long
time forming a single community under the name of
Sidon. Having accepted the Persian suzerainty in
the sixth century B. C., they attained high pros-
perity, and contributed a formidable contingent to
the Persian fleets. Alexander ultimately conquered
them, and under his domination much of their trade
was transferred to Alexandria, which he founded, the
importance of the Phoenician cities then declining.

The Tyre of the present day is a small town of
barely six thousand population, and known by the
Arabic name of Sur. On the southern border, near
the coast, is the reservoir of Eas el Ain, its aqueducts
and basins being Roman works, and the name mean-
ing the " Head of the Spring." The tradition is
that here the Saviour met the Syro-Phcenician
woman, mentioned by St. Mark, who, in her humility,
asked only for crumbs from the Master's table, and
got rich reward. Sur is on a peninsula, extended
into the sea, and broadening at the outer end. In its
great day Tyre was built on two bare, rocky islands,
forming the enclosure of the harbors, with the oldest

298 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and largest portion behind the islands, on the main-
land. Pliny says the ancient city was nineteen miles
in circumference. King Hiram, who sent workmen
and materials to build Solomon's temple, connected
these islands by an embankment, making them as
one. According to a legend, quoted by Herodotus,
the Tyrians claimed that their city was founded
2,756 B. C., the oldest place existing on that coast,
which had attained venerable age at the time of the
siege of Troy. Under the auspices of Pharaoh ISTecho,
of Egypt, with which country they had such close
maritime relations, the Tyrians in 611 B. C. sent
out an expedition that circumnavigated Africa, oc-
cupying about six years in this greatest achievement
of ancient seamanship. Nebuchadnezzar's siege of
Tyre continued thirteen years, and he got control of
the city, 576 B. C. Alexander, fighting the Persians,
besieged Tyre for seven months, and finally built an
embankment from the mainland • over to the islands,
using the building materials of the older city, on the
shore, for the purpose. Thus the ancient city was
destroyed, and in July, 332 B. C., by means of this
method of approach, he captured the place, eight
thousand Tyrians being slain, thirty thousand sold
into slavery, and only a few spared, who had taken
refuge in the Temple of Hercules, a god that Alex-
ander feared.

The island city covered then about two hundred
acres, and Alexander's embankment, widened to a

TYRE AND SIDON 299

breadth of a half-mile to a mile, through subsequent
accretions from the sea, which have silted up the
harbors on both sides, has made the peninsula,
whereon is now the town of Sur. Astarte was said
to have been born in Tyre, and Melkart reigned
afterward, and on the larger island were Astarte's
temple, the shrine of Baal, the Temple of Hercules,
and, on the highest eminence, the Temple of Melkart.
Only a few architectural fragments remain, and
much of the antiquities have been removed to Acre
and Beyrout. The New Testament records the visits
of Jesus and St. Paul to Tyre, and it early became a
Christian settlement. The Crusaders held it nearly
two centuries, but it fell before the Turks in 1291,
when they destroyed it, and since then Tyre has been
in decadence. The most interesting of the old build-
ings is the Crusaders' Church, of which a portion is
preserved, its three apses being built into the town
walls. It was a Venetian structure of the twelfth
century, dedicated to St. Mark, and in it was buried
the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, a prom-
inent Crusader, who died 1190. Two years later
Conrad of Monferrat, another of them, was murdered
in this church. Inland from Tyre, on a rocky head-
land commanding two deep valleys, which it rises
between, is Kalat Kara, the chief stronghold of the
Crusaders, an enormous fortress, controlling the road
to Acre, built in the early thirteenth century. It is
now an attractive ruin.

300 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Northward and most of the way along the coast
leads the high road from Tyre to Sidon. There are
various ruins and ancient tombs along this route, and
about half way, on a hill, is the little village of Sara-
fand, with an abandoned harbor in front and the re-
mains of a chapel said to have been built on a spot
visited by Elijah. This place was Zarephath of the
book of Kings, afterward called Sarepta, by Luke.
During the drought, which was put upon Israel,
in the reign of Ahab, for his idolatries, the prophet
Elijah came here and found the poor widow who
was gathering sticks to make a fire to cook the only
handful of meal remaining in the barrel, and the
little oil in the cruse, that she and her son might eat
before they died. But she cheerfully gave these last
morsels to the hungering prophet, and then the meal
barrel did not waste nor the cruse of oil fail until
the clouds came and the blessed rain was sent by
the Lord to the parched earth. A little way south
of Sarafand there flows out to the sea the vigor-
ous stream of the Jsahr el Kasimiyeh, in a serpen-
tine course through a sandy intervale. This is the
famous river Litani, which comes down southward
between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain
ranges, and then turns westward to the Mediterra-
nean. A number of smaller streams also flow from
the Lebanon ravines, through sandy and fertile bot-
tomlands, and in a little while the route enters the
attractive garden environment of modern Saida,

TYRE AND SIDON 301

which was the ancient Sidon, built upon a prom-
ontory, having its island, now a peninsula, in front.
All the way along the eastern horizon is bounded
by the southern Lebanon mountains, whence the
Tyrians got their cedarwood in ancient times, and
through the intervening hilly and stony table land
goes the caravan route that for thousands of years
has been traversed between Sidon and Damascus.
This penetrates the Lebanon, and crosses the Litani,
southeast of Sidon, in a deep ravine, commanded
by the towering castle of Kalatesh Shakif, built
on a rock, rising precipitously fifteen hundred feet
above the bottom of the ravine, and twenty-five hun-
dred feet above the sea. To the northward the Leb-
anon range ascends to the summit of the Tomat
Niha, over 6,000 feet, with higher peaks beyond.
This castle was a Crusaders' stronghold, called Bel-
fort, and was captured by Saladin in 1196, being
afterward repeatedly taken and retaken. It was
originally a Roman outpost, but most of the ruins
are Saracenic. There is a splendid view eastward
across the magnificent gorge of the Litani, with its
torrent of green water rushing far below, the valley
of the upper Jordan beyond, and to the broad slope
of Mount Hermon, its snow-capped summits rising
over 9,000 feet. Southward is the hilly land of
ISTaphtali.

Sidon is described in Genesis as the firstborn son
of Canaan, and Homer said it was rich in ore, and

302 THE MEDITERRANEAN

its people were experienced in art. It was distanced,
however, by Tyre, which usually held the leading
position, though the people of both were called
Sidonians. The Persians destroyed it, in 351 B.
C., massacring thirty thousand people, and the
Greeks occupied it without trouble. It had a Chris-
tian church early, being visited by St. Paul on his
way to Rome, as described in The Acts, and after the
Saracenic possession it was, during centuries, fought
for and battered between them and the Crusaders,
until, in 1291, the Turks got undisputed control.
The place was of little importance afterward, until
the Mohammedan sect of the Druses, which became
powerful in Syria, made it their capital, under their
Emir Fakhreddin, when it grew to be a handsome
city, with increasing trade, and became the active
seaport of Damascus.

In later years Sidon has declined in importance,
the commerce going away to Beyrout, and the harbor
becoming choked from neglect. The present town
has about 10,000 people, mostly Moslems, and ex-
cepting its environment of gardens, which shows a
superb development of fruit orchards and palms, it
has few attractions, the present exports being
chiefly oranges and lemons. It has nine mosques,
the largest having originally been a church of the
Knights Templar. There is an extensive and in-
teresting necropolis of ancient Sidon, the tombs
hewn in the limestone rocks back on the mainland.

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 303

From these tombs have been taken various ancient
sarcophagi to Constantinople and Paris.

SYRIAN COAST CITIES.

Northward from Sidon the route along the coast
crosses a succession of streams, coming down out of
the Lebanon, with remains of various ancient Phoe-
nician towns, now reproduced usually by small Arab
villages. Among these is the rather larger settle-
ment of El-Jiya, where, according to a Moslem
tradition, Jonah was cast ashore by the whale. Far-
ther northward the broad cliff of the Has Beyrout
projects into the sea, making a massive promontory,
behind which is St. George's Bay, and here, in the
sheltered position thus afforded, and well protected
by the bold promontory, is the best haven on the
Syrian coast, the harbor of Beyrout. As at other
places, however, the landing is made in small boats,
though it is usually more orderly. The oarsmen are
clad in all sorts of odd and bright costumes. The
ample trade of this port has attracted an extensive
population, estimated at 150,000, the Moslems here
being the minority. The city has a beautiful sit-
uation, the houses rising in terraces on the hill slopes,
on the southern border of the bay, enclosed between
the Eas Beyrout and the heights of St. Dimitri to
the eastward, a long breakwater protecting the inner
harbor from the northwestern gales. The noble
bastion of the Lebanon range rises to the eastward,

304 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and its snow-covered summits, with the cooling sea
breezes, temper the summer heats, so that the climate
is always mild, while in the very hot season the
people go to the adjacent mountain resorts; so that
Beyrout is regarded as the healthiest city of Syria.
The townsfolk are very enterprising, and French
is now their principal language, gradually supplant-
ing the Italian formerly generally spoken. This
harbor is the chief entrepot for the interior of Syria,
and it exports silk, cotton, fruits, olive oil, sponges
and cattle. Beyrout is a large city with extensive
modern quarters that are attractive, but a rather
repulsive older town with narrow streets and few
objects of interest. A railroad leads over the two
Lebanon ranges from Beyrout to Damascus, and has
greatly added to the trade of the city. There is
also an excellent post road, built by the French,
between the two cities, covering the distance in
about seventy miles. On this route go long trains
of freight wagons, occupying about forty hours in
the journey, but it is a toll highway, and much of
the traffic still laboriously follows the rough and
ancient trail, through the mountain passes, that for
many centuries has been the caravan path for camels,
donkeys and pack-mules. The camel is the chief
burden bearer on these Syrian roads, and in the
busy season they can be counted by thousands.
They usually travel in long lines, fifty or more, each
being led by a rope tied to the saddle of the one in

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 305

front, the head of the procession being usually a di-
minutive donkey, ridden by an Arab whose broad red
shoes almost hang down to the ground. A camel
moves two and a half to three miles an hour, a day's
journey approximating twenty-five miles. This
patient beast carries most ungainly burdens, such as
iron beams, telegraph poles and huge cans, while
occasionally a piano will be taken on a camel's back,
from Beyrout through the mountain passes to some
wealthy Damascene. The locomotive has not yet
made much progress in Syria in superseding the
camel-driver and the muleteer.

Upon the sea front of the Ras Beyrout are beauti-
ful caves, known as the Pigeons' Grottoes, one of
them penetrating the rock about one hundred and
thirty feet, the interior rising sixty-five feet. These
caves face the westward, and just before sunset the
play of the declining rays upon the rippling waters
wdthin gives superb coloring. Along the coast,
about seven miles to the northeastward, is the
Nahr el Kelb, or Dog River, whence comes the city's
modern water supply. This stream was the Grecian
Lycos, or " Wolf River," and flows through a deep
and pretty ravine from the Sannin summit of the
Lebanon to the sea, the tradition being that its
present name came from a gigantic stone dog, stand-
ing on a cliff at the coast, which barked when an
enemy approached. At the crossing of this river,

which was a strategic pass, fought for during many
VOL. 11—20

306 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ages, are Egyptian, Assyrian and other inscriptions
and sculptures, carved on rocks high above the
present bridge, showing the existence of an earlier
road, the Egyptian carving referring to the cam-
paigns of Sesostris, B. C. 1324. The Romans had a
stone paved road here in the second century A. D.,
which was their chief highway to northern Syria.
In many wars there were bloody contests for the con-
trol of the crossing of this Dog River ravine. The
name of St. George's Bay was given to this indenta-
tion of the Mediterranean, because the tradition is
that on its shores St. George had his famous combat
with the dragon, and near the sea, on the eastern 'edge
of the city, are the ruins of St. George's Chapel,
which is said to have been built on the exact spot
where the hero slew the monster, to protect the king's
daughter, whose life was thus saved. St. George
was an early martyr to Roman persecution of the
Christians, having been slain at Antioch, April 23,
303. He was born in Cappadocia, and is regarded as
one of the greatest Christian heroes, his martyrdom
having been the origin of St. George's Day.

The popular summer resorts of Beyrout are on the
terraces of the Lebanon, having a grand outlook over
the city and its gardens, with the beautiful sea
beyond. Hither also come many sojourners, from
Cyprus and Egypt, seeking relief from the torrid
heats, in the villas and modern hotels in the elevated
villages of Beit Meri, Aleih and Brummana, the

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 307

mountain behind them rising into the noble Sannin
summit, 8,560 feet high. The venerable antiquity
of most of the Phoenician towns does not seem to be
shared by Beyrout, for while it existed as a small
settlement, known by the name of Berytus, yet it was
not important until after the Christian era, and its
famous law school was not established until the third
century. It then became a prominent silk manu-
factory, which trade has since continued, the mul-
berry plantations being a feature of the surround-
ing district. It went through all the Moslem
and Crusaders' wars, and was Fakhreddin's favorite
residence, in the sixteenth century. The excellent
harbor is its chief asset, and has brought wonderful
prosperity in recent years, by drawing away the trade
of Sidon and other Syrian ports. The railway
southeastward to Damascus is also a good feeder,
though this is only a narrow gauge line, and much of
it a rack-and-pinion road, in the steep ravines of the
Lebanon. This road is ninety-one miles long, and
the " express trains " occupy nine hours in accom-
plishing the journey between the cities of Beyrout
and Damascus. The route is very picturesque,
crossing the Lebanon summit in a tunnel at 4,880
feet elevation, then descending to the plain of El-
Bika, or the " lowland," between the mountain
ranges. The road is constructed through the spurs
of the summits of Tomat Mha, " the twins of Niha,"
where the Litani forces its passage in a splendid

308 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ravine. This vale between the mountains was
anciently called Ccele-Syria, or " hollow Syria," a
title that ultimately was used to designate the whole
of Syria. After crossing the Litani a branch rail-
way goes eastward, over the desert, to Baalbek, and
then the route runs to the Anti-Lebanon range, to the
summit pass at 4,610 feet elevation, afterward turn-
ing southward down the Barada. Here is ancient
Abila, and upon an adjacent hill is Xebi Habil.
Tradition says this is the spot where Cain, called
Ivabil, slew his brother Abel, or Habil, according to
the Koran. The railway finally proceeds southeast,
down the Barada valley, to Damascus.

From Beyrout, northward along the coast, is the
old caravan route to the cities of northern Syria.
It encircles St. George's Bay, crosses the Dog River,
and then rounds the Bay of Juneh. Here the Xahr
Ibrahim, the ancient Adonis River, comes down
through a picturesque ravine, a vigorous mountain
torrent. This river descends from the Springs of
Adonis, a copious source in the spurs of the Lebanon,
the principal spring flowing out of a cavern, and
the stream going over fine waterfalls. Here is the
village of Afka, the ancient Apheca, where there was
a famous Temple of Venus, which the Emperor
Constantine destroyed. Adonis was believed to have
been slain by a wild boar, and the myth of Venus
and Adonis was here localized. In times of flood,
the water is colored red, from the detritus brought

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 309

out, and the tinge thus given was anciently regarded
as the blood of the slain Adonis. Farther north-
ward, on the coast, is the village of Jebeil, where
lived the Giblites, in the larger city of Gebal, these
people being described in the Old Testament as
" hewers of stone " and skilled in shipbuilding.
This place claimed to be one of the oldest in the
world, and to be founded by Baal, the Greeks calling
it Byblos. It was the chief shrine of the Phoenician
paganism cult, in which the prominent ceremonial
was the mourning for the slain Adonis, and to it pil-
grims came from all parts of the Phoenician world.
Here was born Philo of Byblos, who has recorded its
fame, and the extensive ruins and adjacent necropolis
attest the great size of the ancient city, where now,
however, are barely a thousand people. It was a
stronghold of the Crusaders, when captured by
Saladin, in 1188. There survive a partly ruined
castle, built of older materials by the Crusaders, and
a fine Maronite Church of St. John, of the early
twelfth century. The harbor, like all on this coast,
has islands in front, once defended by fortifications,
and with heaps of broken columns all about. The
foundations of a temple, in the suburbs, are believed
to have been part of the sanctuary of Adonis, and in
rock tombs and elsewhere are Egyptian and Babylo-
nian remains.

Farther northward is Batnm, with a diminutive
harbor, and having about five thousand population,

310 THE MEDITERRANEAN

mostly Christians. Like the other towns, it displays
rock tombs and sarcophagi in various places, the chief
feature being a picturesque medieval castle. This
was Botrys, founded by the Phoenicians, in the time
of Nebuchadnezzar, as a frontier fort, for the defence
of their northern caravan route along the coast.
Several villages are farther on, and picturesque cliffs
protrude into the sea. The massive promontory of
Ras Shakka, the ancient Theouprosapon, is a noble
headland, the name meaning " God's visage," and
upon and near it are several Greek monasteries.
This grand cliff guards an extensive bay, deeply
indented in the rocky coast, and having as its north-
eastern bastion another promontory terminating in
a ponderous projection, whereon is the village of
Enfeh, or " the nose." Northeastward is yet another
headland, El-Mina, with a group of outlying islands,
this being the port of Tripoli, which is located in the
interior — the Tarabulus of Islam — about forty
thousand people, mostly Moslems, living in the city
and the port. There are, however, in Tripoli, as
many Christian churches as mosques, though the
decaying trade, drawn off by the greater attractions
and better railroad connexions of Beyrout, has of
late years rather reduced the Christian population.
Silk weaving, soap making, tobacco and fruit raising
are now the chief industries, and the surrounding
district is extremely fertile. The river Kadisha
flows along the western verge of Tripoli, and thence

SYRIAN COAST CITIES

northward to the sea, and among the features of the
place are the six medieval defensive towers, built on
the coast, from the river westward to the port. They
are of ancient materials, and the best preserved is
the Burj es Seba, the " lion-tower," which has a
spacious arch and interesting windows.

The townspeople call Tripoli " the little Da-
mascus," and most of the narrow streets have arcades
and an old-time appearance, while the structures
gradually ascend, in terraced rows, from the river
bank to the castle. Tarabulus is believed to have
been founded about 700 B. C., and it was then close
to the sea, but nothing remains now of the original
buildings. The Moslems got possession, and the
Crusaders, under Count Raymond of Toulouse,
began a siege in 1104, but their dissensions delayed
the capture for five years. In the siege, to prevent
relief, the castle was built on the hill inland, rising
abruptly from the river, known as St. Giles, and this
resulted in the changed location of the place. The
captors held it nearly two centuries, and in 1289 it
fell to the Turks, who enlarged the interior town
located around the castle. It then had an enormous
silk industry employing four thousand looms.

Among the curiosities of Tripoli is the Der-
wishiyeh, a monastery at the base of the castle hill,
occupied by the dancing or spinning dervishes.'
These are religious devotees of the Mohammedan
faith, there being some forty different orders. There

312 THE MEDITERRANEAN

are howling and dancing dervishes, the latter being
held in the higher esteem, and being the wealthiest of
the Turkish religious bodies. The name comes from
the Persian, and means " the sill of the door," or
" those who beg from door to door," in allusion to the
mendicancy of wandering dervishes. The dancing
is conducted to the sounds of music, at first with slow
movement, but growing in animation until they
become so exhausted they have to sit or fall down,
afterward repeating the dance; this being done
several times, and the ceremony concluding with a
sermon by the sheik, who is generally credited with
possessing miraculous powers. The howling der-
vishes accompany their dancing with loud shouts of
the name of Allah, and violent contortions of the
body, much as in epileptic fits. They thus work
themselves into a frenzy, and perform extraordinary
feats. They sometimes become so intense that they
roll head over heels for hundreds of miles, and one
order of contortionists is said to " contemplate the
tip of the nose from eighty-four different positions."
The spinning dervish executes a pirouette on the left
heel, with the arms outstretched and the eyes closed.
Not long ago one of them, in New York, giving
exhibitions, whirled around four thousand times in
an hour. Canon Rawnsley has given, in his " Danc-
' ing Dervishes," a vivid picture of these whirling
devotees, with their fanatic countenances, shrill
music, and expansive never-touching skirts :

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 313

The shrillest pipe man ever played

Was making music overhead,

And in a circle, down below,

Sat men whose faces seemed to show

Another world was all their trade.

Then up they rose, and one by one,

Shook skirts down, following him who led

To where the elder brother sat —

All gabardine and comic hat,

Then bowed, and off for Heaven they spun.

Their hands were crossed upon their breast,
Their eyes were closed as if for sleep,
The naked foot that beat the floor,
To keep them spinning more and more,
Was careless of all need for rest.

Soon every flowing skirt began
Its milk-white spinning plane to keep,
Each brother of the holy band
Spun in and out with lifted hand,
A teetotum, no longer man.

The gray old man, their leader, went
Throughout his spinning fellowship,
And reverently to the ear,
Of every dervish circling near,
He spake a soft encouragement.

The piper piped a shriller psalm,
The dancers thro' their mystery moved,
Untouched, untouching, and the twirl
That set our giddy heads awhirl
Served but to give their faces calm.

The caravan route, from Tripoli to Baalbek and
Damascus, lias been travelled during thousands of

314 THE MEDITERRANEAN

years, southeastward over the Lebanon, following up
the Kadisha vale, into the mountain ravines. It
passes over a well cultivated country, with many small
villages, and caverns in the rocky gorges, formerly
used as retreats by the monks. Here, at the
monastery of Kannobin, built romantically on the
cliffs, high above the Kadisha, is the seat of the patri-
archs of the Maronite church, the prevalent religion
in this region. The monastery dates from the fourth
century. Higher up is Ehden, a flourishing
Maronite town, and beyond is the top of the Lebanon
range, impressive in its magnificence, the pass cross-
ing the Jebel el Arz, or Cedar Mountain, at 7,700
feet elevation, while to the northward the ridge
rises in three bold snow-covered summits, exceeding
10,000 feet. Upon the side of the highest of these,
the Dehr el Kodib, elevated 10,050 feet, is the head
spring of the Kadisha, the " sacred river." Farther
down its gorge, at a height of 6,300 feet, are still
preserved the few survivors of the famous " Cedars
of Lebanon." There are about four hundred trees
in the group, the tallest being eighty feet high, and
the largest forty-seven feet in circumference. With-
in the grove is a Maronite chapel, and the people hold
an appropriate festival in August. These famous
trees were always admired by the Israelites, as no
cedars grew in their own land, to the southward, and
there are numerous references to them in Scripture.
They formerly covered the greater part of the

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 315

mountain slopes, but have been nearly all cut
off. To the northward, the Lebanon range extends
at a lower elevation, this less stately ridge being
known as the Nosairiyeh.

The coast plain, beyond Tripoli, encircles the bay
of Jun Akkar, and is well cultivated, being called
Juniyeh, or " the corner." The caravan route north-
ward continues near the coast, crossing the Barid,
or " cold river," having on its bank the ruins of
ancient Orthosia, mentioned in Maccabees. Farther
along is the larger i^ahr el Kebir, " the great river,"
which was the ancient Eleutheros, and the northern
boundary of the territory of the Phoenicians. Upon
the inland hilltops are perched various castles built
by the Crusaders. Off the coast are two islands,
Hebles, and north of it, ancient Aradus, now Ruad,
and between these comes out the Kahr el Kibleh,
which just before debouching into the sea receives the
!Kahr Amrit. The latter name is derived from
Marathus, the extensive city which, in the early
times, covered the surface all about the neighborhood
of both rivers. To-day this region is little more than
a wide expanse of tombs, rock-caves, shrines,
pyramids and other remains of its spacious necrop-
olis. The first king of Aradus founded the city in
the dim past, and the Aradians peopled it, entering
into a league with the Phoenicians. It was still
prosperous in the time of Alexander, but had ceased
to be of importance in the Roman days. There are

316 THE MEDITERRANEAN

remains of a large stadium and amphitheatre, but
the place has not been a human habitation for nearly
two thousand years.

A short distance farther northward is Tartus, the
ancient Tortosa, which was another Aradian colony,
that people being described, in the book of Ezekiel,
as skilful mariners and brave soldiers. All the
Aradian colonies, and there were several on this part
of the coast, submitted to Alexander, King Strato
giving up his dominions, which then extended north
to the Orontes. Opposite the island town of Aradus
they had built Antaradus, which in time became the
more important place, and in the middle ages
changed its name to Tortosa, the Crusaders making
it a stronghold, and the Templars were not driven
out until 1291, this being the last place they held in
Syria. At present, the remains of the town walls
are over a mile in circuit, and the people mostly live
within the old castle, built by the Crusaders, a
structure five hundred feet long, having double walls
and moats on all sides, excepting where fronting the
sea. There is still preserved in the town the hand-
some Crusaders' Church, an attractive structure.
Off shore, upon Aradus, now Kuad, live about two
thousand people, mostly sponge-fishers and watermen.
A broad wall encloses most of the island and the
village, excepting on the harbor side, the rocky
central ridge being about a half mile long, and
having on its summit a large castle built by the

SYRIAX COAST CITIES 317

Turks. On the mainland, at some distance above,
is Baniyas, an almost deserted place, which was the
Balanaia of Strabo, at the outlet of the Valania River,
and a stronghold of the Knights of St. John, this
stream, in their time, forming the boundary between
the Crusaders' Kingdom of Jerusalem and the
province of Antioch. About four miles inland is El-
Merkab, or the " watch tower," an enormous castle,
occupying the spacious summit of a rock, at nearly
one thousand feet elevation. It is a huge construc-
tion, seen from afar, and having a tower rising sixty-
six feet, that contains a Gothic chapel, now a mosque.
No one knows who built it, yet it was able to accom-
modate two thousand families and one thousand
horses in the time of the Crusaders, being captured
from the Knights Hospitallers by the Saracens in
1285. About fifteen hundred people now live in this
fortress.

The ruins of ancient Paltus are northward on the
coast, this having been an Aradian colony, and beyond
the village of Jebelah, formerly the Byzantine castle
of Gabala, and afterward held by the Crusaders.
It presents various rock-tombs and Roman remains.
This is a dangerous district, infested by origands,
who swoop down upon the traveller from the
Kosairiyeh mountains, and the local government is
very weak. Some distance farther is Ladikiyeh,
where about twenty-two thousand Turks and Greeks
live, in a poor town, that has, however, a pleasant sit-

318 THE MEDITERRANEAN

uation, on a fertile plain near the sea, where they
raise tobacco, manufacture silk, and gather sponges
from the reefs. This was a famous place of old,
though the ruins show it to have then been located
nearer the sea than now. Originally called Ramatha
by the Phoenicians, it became better known as Laodi-
cea, when Alexander's famous general Seleucus Nica-
tor rebuilt and embellished it, as one of the six cities
he founded in honor of his mother, Laodice. It was
excellently situated for trade, being fronted by
Cyprus, which can be dimly seen at the western
Mediterranean horizon. In the early Christian era
it became the prosperous port of Antioch. The
Byzantines held it, and Tancred got possession in the
twelfth century, it being afterward devastated by an
earthquake, Saladin destroying it later. The city
revived, but another earthquake came in 1287, and
the Turks immediately captured it. There are inter-
esting ruins and a small harbor, protected by the far-
extending promontory of Ladikiyeh, on its northern
side. The trade is small now, however, commerce
having been mostly diverted elsewhere.

The range of Nosairiyeh Mountains, rising behind
Ladikiyeh, being so much lower in elevation than the
Lebanon, are not very impressive, but their foothills
come out to the sea, north of the city, protruding in
long cliffs with intervening bays. Prominent among
these promontories is the Ras el Buseit, the ancient
Posidium, and beyond it is a broad bay, into which

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 319

the Orontes empties, the chief river of north Syria,
which comes out from behind the mountain range,
breaking through a picturesque pass. To the south-
ward of the Orontes rises the bare and rounded
summit of the most prominent mountain of northern
Syria, elevated about 5,400 feet, and a conspicuous
landmark. This is the Jebel el Akra, or the " naked
mountain," a peak which in the ancient times was
always held sacred. It was then known as Mount
Casius, and here was erected an altar for the worship
of Zeus Casius, both by the Greeks and the Romans.
Hadrian ascended this summit to get the grand view,
while afterward Julian the Apostate went up, and
offered sacrifices at the altar. Its outlook is all
around the horizon, with distant Cyprus seen over
the Mediterranean westward, the snow-crowned
Taurus range of Asia Minor northwest and north,
its lower offshoot, the Amanus, being nearer to us,
and coming out to the coast, beyond the Orontes, in
the broad mass of the Jebel Musa, its ponderous bases
being washed by the sea. Toward the eastward
spreads the fertile plain of Antioch, along the river
intervale, having the glistening Lake of Antioch far
to the northeast. In the distant south rise the white
summits of the massive Lebanon range, having the
Orontes winding through the deep depression behind
them.

Seleucus Kicator, who founded Laodicea, at the
height of his career governed an empire that

320 THE MEDITERRANEAN

stretched from Babylonia and Persia to Asia Minor,
and he established many other cities, being the
earliest of the noted dynasty of the Selucidae.
Seleucus, in his conquests, advanced into India, going
ever farther than Alexander, and hence gained the
title of Nicator. His dynasty was one of the most
powerful that ruled in the Persian empire. Upon
the northern verge of the broad alluvial plain of the
Orontes, which then had an enormous population,
attracted by its luxuriance and fertility, Seleucus
founded another city and port, Seleucia Pieria.
Crossing over the river and the plain, we reach, at the
edge of the sea, the little village of Suweidiyeh,
whose people get a scant living by piloting visitors
over the ruins of this ancient city, which are a short
distance to the northwest. It was handsome and
extensive, and its spacious port was dug out of the
plain, with a canal fifteen hundred feet long leading
to the sea, the outlet being protected by exterior
moles. The Romans enlarged the harbor, by exca-
vations in the rocky bases of the Amanus foothills,
but on the decline of the Roman empire the place
lost all its importance. When the Moslems con-
trolled, Suweidiyeh became the port of Antioch, and
the Crusaders made it their landing place, calling it
St. Simeon's harbor. For the last fifteen centuries
Seleucia has been nothing but a ruin. Visitors now
can see the abandoned harbor, an oval basin partly
filled up, the choked canal, the projecting moles in

SYRIAN COAST CITIES 321

partial ruin, the southern one, which is best pre-
served, being named after St. Paul. It is recorded
in The Acts that when St. Paul started upon his
great missionary tour, he and Barnabas came here
from Antioch, of which Seleucia was then the port,
and departed for Cyprus. Here also are remains of
watch-towers and storehouses. A great channel still
exists, two-thirds of a mile long, with deep rock cut-
tings and tunnels, that brought down the water from
the hills, to serve the town and supply the harbor, a
huge wall across the interior valley making the dam
to store it for the dry seasons. There are rock-tombs,
remains of the town walls and gates, which were
strongly fortified, and many remnants of temples
and fine buildings, with groups of columns. These
represented the grandeur of the Selucidse, but the
latter were conquered by the Ptolemies of Egypt and
later by the Romans, and all their glory has long ago
departed.

The broad and spacious Jebel Musa, the " hill of
Moses," richly green and well wooded, projects far
into the sea to the northwest of the Orontes outlet,
this having been the ancient Promontorium Rhosi-
cum, and now known to the Arabs as the Ras el
Kandzir, or the " swine's promontory." The mas-
sive mountain itself, stretching far back toward the
northeast to join the higher Taurus range, was the
Mons Rhosus of the Romans. Behind it, between

northern Syria and Asia Minor, the Mediterranean
VOL. 11—21

322 THE MEDITERRANEAN

terminates in its northeastern bay, and a most beauti-
ful land-locked inland water, the Issicus Sinus, now
known as Alexandretta Bay. When Alexander the
Great won his important victory -at Issus, 333 B. C.,
he determined to found a city to celebrate it, and
established Alexandria in a lovely situation sur-
rounded by a girdle of green hills, the lower slopes
of a mountain amphitheatre of the Taurus, on the
eastern shore of this bay, then known as the Mons
Amanus. The place was intended to be the port for
the caravan route eastward into Mesopotamia and
interior Asia. Soon afterward, however, Alex-
ander conquered more and greater countries, and
established another city of Alexandria, in Egypt.
Then the reign of Seleucus ISTicator came, and he
changed the Asian caravan route to his new port of
Seleucia Pieria, and to Antioch, up the Orontes.
This change of travel caused the Syrian Alexandria
to decline, and it came to be known as " little Alex-
andria," or Alexandretta, and sometimes as Alex-
andria Scdbiosa, from the prevalence of leprosy. It
was often attacked and severely suffered in various
wars, but to-day is a quiet and beautiful town, of
about twelve thousand people, upon the most spacious
harbor of Syria, there still being a considerable trade,
much of it with the people of Aleppo. Visitors are
deterred, however, by the unhealthiness of the dis-
trict, as fevers prevail, and the yellow-hued com-
plexions of the people are not attractive.

ALEXANDRETTA TO ALEPPO 323

ALEXANDRETTA TO ALEPPO.

Leaving the coast and its many ruined cities, we
enter the interior of Syria by the caravan route from
Alexandretta to Aleppo, a road of over a hundred
miles, though some detours by steep bridle paths can,
if taken, make a shorter way in the mountain passes.
It gradually mounts the slopes of the Amanus range,
crossing the summit pass at 2,400 feet elevation, high
above the extensive Lake of Antioch, which nestles
far below, in the vale to the southward. This lake
receives many tributaries, and its level changes con-
siderably in the wet and dry seasons, the outlet stream
going off southward to the Orpntes. The summit
pass is the famous Pylse Syriai, through which Alex-
ander, after the victory at Issus, marched his army
for the conquest of Persia. The route descends on
the eastern side, to the far spreading plain of Anti-
och, through which the Orontes flows. This plain
is called El Amk, or the " depression," and on its
farther verge rise the Kurd Mountains. In the hills
north of the plain recent extensive excavations have
disclosed the ancient Hittite town of Sam'al. The
citadel hill was surrounded by two city walls, the in-
ner dating from the thirteenth century B. C., and the
outer from the eighth century, and they bear Hittite
reliefs and inscriptions. Many of the curiosities
found here are now in the Berlin and Constantinople
Museums. It was on this plain of Antioch that the

324 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Roman Emperor Aurelian defeated the famous
Queen Zenobia, of Palmyra, in A. D. 273, and the
fair warrior captive graced his subsequent triumphal
march in Rome. Beyond the plain the route
crosses another mountain ridge, and it finally de-
scends to the valley of the Kuweik River, entering
Aleppo by the Antakiyeh (Antioch) gate.

The river Afrin, one of the most considerable af-
fluents of the Lake of Antioch, comes from the north-
east through the plain, and high above its eastern
bank, and northward from the caravan route, rises
the Jebel Barakat, on the northern slope of which
is the finest ruin in northern Syria, the Kalet Simen,
or " Fort of St. Simeon." Simeon was a shep-
herd, the devout son of a peasant in the Amanus
mountains, born in 391 A. D., who began at an
early age to inflict upon himself the severest pen-
ances. He was fond of loneliness and solitary med-
itations, retired into a monastery, but finding too
much company there, finally lived apart in the
wilderness. His peculiar asceticism, however, even
then attracted too many visitors, who annoyed him
in his meditations and penances, and to get away
from them, he went to the summit of the Jebel
Barakat and took refuge on top of a crag. Thus he
founded the religious Order of the Stylites or
" pillar hermits." In the year 422 he ascended
a stone column ten feet in height, and remained
there for seven years, being nourished by what was

ALEXANDRETTA TO ALEPPO 325

brought him. Then he mounted the top of a much
larger column, thirty-eight feet high, having a plat-
form about four feet in diameter, remaining there
until his death in 459. A congregation of bishops
once commanded him to come down, but he de-
murred, as he said this penance was his duty, though
nevertheless saying if they, after hearing him, still
commanded it, and would be responsible, he would
descend. Then the bishops, further reviewing the
matter, decided that his was not a case of merely
spiritual pride, but of religious duty, and he could
follow his own inclination. He fasted much of the
time, went without food and sleep almost entirely
during Lent, was exposed to wind and storm with-
out protection, stood up until wounds and weak-
ness compelled him to sit with his legs doubled
under him, and latterly had to be bound to the top
of the column or enclosed by a railing so he could
not fall off. From this elevated pulpit he de-
livered sermons to many thousands of hearers, and
gathered around it quite a settlement of disciples
and pupils, his influence being very great upon the
wandering tribes of the country. He died in his
lofty station, and the people of Antioch afterward,
in procession, removed his remains to a chapel,
erected in that city to receive them. Immediately
there was established, on the spot where the pillar
stood, a convent of the Order of the Stylites, and in
the centre of its church, formed as a Greek cross,

326 THE MEDITERRANEAN

stood the column upon which the saint had lived
so long. A most extensive establishment was
erected in the fifth and sixth centuries, and upon
the subsequent capture by the Moslems they made
a strong fortress, the Kalet Simen, out of it. The
ruins of the church and other buildings cover the
hill slope and top, and in the centre lies the pedestal
of the column on which the Saint stood for thirty
years. The Stylite hermits were numerous in
eastern countries until the twelfth century.

Upon an elevated plain, surrounded by hills, and
on the northwestern edge of the great Syrian desert,
which extends over toward Arabia and the Eu-
phrates, is the city of Aleppo, the ancient Haleb,
about seventy miles east of the Mediterranean.
Through it flows the Kuweik River from the north-
ward, passing rich orchards, groves and gardens, and
going off to the south, where it is finally lost some
eighteen miles away in a morass. When this city
began is unknown, but the Egyptian records testify
to its existence 2,000 years B. C., and Shelmanesar
was here in the ninth century B. C., and offered
sacrifices to its god, Hadad. Seleucus Nicator
greatly improved it during his reign, naming it
Bercea, and he established the city as an important
station on the caravan routes to Persia and Arabia,
so that it gained so much prosperity that it then
became the leading city of this region. For several
centuries Aleppo was a centre of much trade, but

ALEXANDRETTA TO ALEPPO 327

in the early seventh century of our era it was
burnt by the Persian king Chosroes, and soon after
fell into the hands of the Arabs. They, however,
destroyed the neighboring city and fort of Kin-
nesrin, and the business of that city, going to Beroea,
added to its importance. Then came a series of mis-
fortunes. Earthquakes destroyed it in 1114, again
in 1139, and in 1170, the latter being a most severe
visitation. The Mongols came twice in the thir-
teenth century and sacked it, and in 1400 the in-
vader Timur defeated the Syrians, and the place was
again destroyed. The Turkish Janizaries, in their
occupancy during the early nineteenth century, did
it great damage, and more destructive earthquakes
came in 1822 and 1830. These repeated disasters
have removed almost everything that was old in Be-
rrea, but it revived always and quickly, on account
of its admirable trade position on the caravan routes
to Persia, India and Arabia, which brought con-
stant accessions of wealth. The Venetians and
French early established trade factories, English
merchants came in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
and the Dutch followed soon afterward. The sea
route to India has curtailed that branch of the over-
land trade, but the city is still in active business and
has a population approximating two hundred thou-
sand people.

Aleppo, as seen to-day, is comparatively modern
and has no defensive works. The vale of the

328 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Kuweik, which was the Chalcis of Xenophon, is a
wide and well irrigated region of gardens and
orchards, and the pistachio nut thrives admirably
on the eastern hills, making a valuable product for
export. The Roman emperors imported their pis-
tachios from this region. Much wine is produced,
and salt is got from the salt lakes on the edge of the
neighboring desert. The city is less oriental than
most other Syrian communities, its trade connexions
bringing a large European population. The native
Aleppines, however, are not thought much of; and
a common proverb is El Lalebi jelebi, the " Alep-
pine is a swell." One of the curious developments
is the habb hileb, or " Aleppine boil," called also the
habb es-sench or the " boil of a year." This erup-
tion extends as far as Persia, and while not dan-
gerous or painful, is disfiguring, as it leaves large
scars, and no preventive remedy has yet been
found. Everyone is liable to the attack, and visit-
ors sometimes get it long after they have left the
city.

The citadel, in the centre of the place, is on a
hill evidently artificially constructed, the founda-
tions being very old, and the tradition is that the
whole of ancient Beroea was on this hill. The na-
tives declare the hill to be supported by eight thou-
sand columns. The inscriptions on the walls of the
citadel are mostly Saracenic, of the thirteenth cen-
tury. Much of the plateau within the enclosure is

ALEXAXDRETTA TO ALEPPO 329

covered with ruins. There is, however, a tall min-
aret in a commanding position, which is now the
great landmark of Aleppo, seen from afar on every
approaching road. Nine gates are on the routes
coming into the city, but the walls are all down, ex-
cepting a portion with towers on the western side.
There is an extensive and attractive bazaar, west of
the citadel, and near it the Jami Zakariyeh, or Great
Mosque, said to stand on the site of a Christian
church founded by the Empress Helena. It has as
its chief relic the tomb of Zacharias, the father of
John the Baptist, but a number of other places in
Syria also claim his tomb. This mosque was twice
destroyed, the last destruction being by the Mongols
in 1260, after which the present mosque was built,
its minaret rising one hundred and eighty feet,
having been constructed in 1290. To the southward
of Aleppo, on the hills overlooking the morass, in
which the river Kuweik loses itself, are the ruins of
Kinnesrin, or the " eagle's nest," known by the
Turks as Eski Haleb, or " Old Aleppo," to which
the Arabic name of Chalcis was also given. This
was founded by Seleucus Xicator, as a frontier post,
toward Persia and Arabia, and it was an important
military colony, and the capital of northern Syria.
As Aleppo grew, however, it declined; in the tenth
century most of the inhabitants had abandoned it,
going to the greater city, and by the thirteenth- cen-
tury it became a deserted ruin.

330 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ANTIOCH.

Retracing the caravan route toward the sea, we
leave the road from Aleppo to Alexandretta, at the
little village of Turmania, and proceed southwest
over the plains, and among the hills rising south-
ward of the Lake of Antioch. Several ruined towns
are passed, and at Harim, on an artificial hill, is the
stout Arabic castle of Harenkh, built by the Turks
in the thirteenth century. It succeeded an earlier
castle of the Crusaders, which Nureddin had cap-
tured from them in 1163. The route goes down
into the broad valley of the Orontes, crosses the river
on the Jisr el Hadid, or the " iron bridge," and
thence along the southern bank to the noted city of
Antioch, entering by the eastern gate, the Bab Bulus,
or " Gate of St. Paul " ; the Monastery of St. Paul,
and the old walls in that locality, however, are
nearly all gone, though some ruins remain.

Antioch, of which the Arabic name is Antakiyeh,
was the largest and most famous city of ancient
Syria, covering an extensive portion of the broad
and fertile plain of the Orontes, about twenty miles
from its mouth, though the present town is only one-
tenth the original size. It is located upon the north-
western part of the widespread ruins, that show
what a great city was this magnificent capital of
the splendor-loving dynasty of the Selucidae, who in
their day ruled all the eastern Mediterranean and

ANTIOCH 331

much of Asia. Seleucus Xicator, after his victory
at Ipsus, 301 B. C., determined to found a city of
Antiochia, named after his father Antiochus, as
Laodicea had been given for his mother Laodice, in
the names of six different cities. There were no less
than fifteen other towns founded by the conqueror,
in honor of his father, and bearing the name of
Antiochia, and to distinguish this one, which was the
greatest of them, it was described as " Antiochia
Ephidaphnes," or " near Daphne." Farther down
the river, about six miles distant, in a most beautiful
position, with waterfalls pouring over the cliffs,
and brooks running off through delicious groves to
the river, is Beit el-Ma, the favorite pleasure resort
of the people of the city. Here are ancient re-
mains, an extensive necropolis, and a subterranean
Bock Grotto, entered by a long stone staircase.
Laurels abound, and this place was always the popu-
lar suburban elysium for the ancient Antiochians.
It then was known as Daphne, and tradition said it
was the place where the nymph, when pursued by
Apollo, had been metamorphosed into a laurel.
Seleucus built here a temple to Apollo, and for it
Bryaxis made the famous statue of the god play-
ing a lyre, which is copied on the old coins of the
city. The Temple of Apollo was burnt by Julian.
There were also temples of other deities, a stadium,
and various structures, and the later Selucidse
celebrated famous festivals here. In the Roman

332 THE MEDITERRANEAN

days, Germanicus died at Daphne, and Olympian
games were established by Commodus, and were con-
tinued regularly, until the sixth century of our era.
Nothing testified more to the greatness of Seleucus
Mcator than the fact that for thirteen centuries
the chronology of Antioch was dated from his cap-
ture of Babylon, which became the year 1 of the
Antiochian era, established generally throughout the
eastern nations. This capture was in 312 B. C. and
the chronology continued until the tenth century of
our era, before it gave way to the Christian chro-
nology, introduced by the Crusaders.

The river Orontes was originally called the Ty-
phon, from the snake-legged giant, who had been
stricken near Daphne by the thunderbolt of Jupiter,
and seeking escape under the earth, rushed off into
the mountains, and then turned his flight southward,
through the deep valley between the Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon ranges, and their northern prolonga-
tions. He formed the Orontes river-bed, according
to the myth, by his tail, and its source, by his de-
scent under the surface near Baalbek. Orontes was
said to have been the name of a man who had built
a bridge over the river, and when, in the Roman
times, the course of the stream was partly changed,
a tomb was found in the old bed, containing human
bones of colossal size, which the oracle, wrhen con-
sulted, declared to be those of Orontes, whose name
thus became attached to the river. Where it passes

ANTIOCH 333

Antiocli the stream is now about one hundred and
thirty feet wide. On old coins of Antioch the city
is personified as a female figure seated on a high
rock, from under which issues the Orontes as a
youth in the attitude of swimming. This view was
reproduced in the famous seated statue of Antioch,
by Eutychides, and the same representations are
shown in a marble statue in the Vatican, and a sim-
ilar statuette in the British Museum.

Antioch, in its days of glory, had an enormous
trade, as it interchanged goods between all the na-
tions around, caravan routes from all directions cen-
tering in the city, and its port, as already stated,
being Seleucia Pieria. The population then ex-
ceeded two hundred thousand, yet in the nineteenth
century had dwindled to six thousand, but there has
since been a revival, so that it new exceeds twenty
thousand, though the present trade is small. South
of the river rises the rugged Mount Silpius, elevated
in three summits, the highest about 1,450 feet. At
present the town is between the river and this
ridge, and is girdled by an extensive environment of
gardens, orchards and groves, which are well irri-
gated. Anciently the city covered all the hill
slopes, and the adjacent country for miles, spread-
ing also north of the river, and its walls can be
traced, as they rise step-like up the mountain side.
The main thoroughfare east and west then extended
four miles, between the opposite city gates, long

334: THE MEDITERRANEAN

adorned by four parallel rows of columns through-
out, and having arcaded sidewalks as a protection
from rain and sun. Five splendid bridges crossed
the Orontes. When the Selucidse were overthrown,
the city came under Roman domination, and the em-
perors greatly favored it, rebuilding several times,
when earthquakes did serious damage. It was at
Antioch St. Paul ministered, and here, according to
The Acis, the followers of Jesus were first called
Christians, while St. Paul started from this city
on his great missionary tour. There were many
Christian martyrs at Antioch, and it was an early
centre of Christianity, the tradition being that St.
Peter was the first bishop, and over thirty church
councils being held here, the Emperor Constantine
partially building a church, which was later com-
pleted by his son. -

The largest extent of Antioch was attained under
Theodosius the Great, when the walls enclosed a cir-
cuit of nearly twelve miles. In the third century,
Sapor of Persia sacked the city, and subsequently
Queen Zenobia of Palmyra captured it, but Aurelian
soon recovered it. The greatest earthquake, in de-
struction, came in 526, when a church celebration
had attracted vast crowds, and two hundred and fifty
thousand people are said to have perished. Chos-
roes plundered it in 538, carrying off many inhabi-
tants to Assyria, the previous earthquake and this
disaster causing its decline. The Arabs got it sub-

ANTIOCH 335

sequentl y, and in 1097 the Crusaders besieged it.
They did not make much progress owing to dissen-
sions, but another earthquake came in 1098, which
stopped their quarrels, when they prosecuted the
siege more vigorously, and soon gaining entrance,
through a traitor, made a massacre of the people. A
Persian army immediately came to aid the city, and
the crusaders were in alarm, until the opportune
finding of the " holy spear " inspired renewed cour-
age. This spear was the weapon which it was said
had pierced the Saviour's side at the Crucifixion,
and the devout Peter of Amicus found it, under the
altar of the principal church, whereupon they
quickly attacked the Persians, roused by the inspi-
ration of the spear, and gained a signal victory,
driving them off. In the thirteenth century the
Moslems regained possession, and have held it ever
since. Days are required to properly explore the ex-
tensive ruins, and the entire circuit of the old walls
can still be made. Much of the materials, however,
have been used in rebuilding, since the last destruc-
tive earthquake in 1872. The walls were from
twenty-six to forty feet high, and about ten feet wide
at the top, the old-time writers recording that a four'
horse chariot could be driven along them. There
were large towers at regular intervals, and three
hundred and sixty of them in all, some rising eighty
feet in the air, with the highest ones crowning the
hilltops.

336 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ASCENDING THE OKONTES.

Ccele-Syria, or " Hollow Syria," the fertile inter-
vale of the Bika, or " lowland," extends many miles
southward between the parallel mountain ridges,
that gradually rise into higher summits, and then
become the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The
most elevated portion of this expansive valley is in
the neighborhood of Baalbek, and from this water-
shed the Orontes flows northward and the Litani
southward, each ultimately turning westward
through mountain gorges and seeking the sea. The
Orontes, above Antioch, receives its most consider-
able tributary, the ISTahr el Aswad, or " Black
Water," the ancient Melas, the outlet of the Lake of
Antioch, which has a current so powerful that it
changes the course of the main river, that has been
flowing from the south, and turns it toward the
southwest, almost doubling upon itself. The
Orontes comes out of the valley through a pictur-
esque gorge, and following it up we find Esh Shughr,
where a much travelled caravan route, between the
interior and the coast, crosses the river on a fine
arched bridge. This is now a large Moslem villago,
and it was a stronghold of the Crusaders, command-
ing the crossing, there being two ruined castles re-
maining from their time.

To the eastward of the Orontes are various
hamlets, on the routes that have been travelled for

ASCENDING THE OPxONTES 337

ages between Aleppo and Damascus, being gener-
ally built in the ruins of ancient cities whose his-
tory has faded, their glory and inhabitants having
departed long ago. Among these are Kuweiha,
Dana, Serjella and Kirkbet Hass, the latter includ-
ing ruined churches and an extensive necropolis of
the early Christian era. El Baza was a stronghold
of the Crusaders, afterward destroyed by the Mos-
lems, this being the district of the Jebel el Arbain,
or " Mount of the Forty Martyrs," with ruins
strewn everywhere, the remains of many churches,
towns and monasteries. Kalat el-Mudik is all that
is left of the city of Apamen, which Seleucus
founded in honor of his Persian wife, Apame. It
now occupies the location of the ancient citadel, and
looks out over the river intervale, a meadow land
about four miles wide, having extensive ruins of
the old city all about. There is a broad street of
columns, having at least eighteen hundred of dif-
ferent styles, and most of -them about thirty feet
high. In this city was established the war treasury
and national stud of the Seleucidae empire, and here
were kept for breeding purposes thirty thousand
mares and three hundred stallions. Pompey de-
stroyed the citadel, Chosroes in the seventh century
burnt the city, and in the twelfth century an earth-
quake about finished its ruin. A few Bedouin
Arabs wander about, their village being within the

enclosure of the castle.
VOL. 11—22

338 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Orontes, above here, comes from the south-
east, passing through a rocky gorge, and there is
another poor Bedouin village, huddled within a
castle, in a picturesque situation, which is all that
now marks Seleucus Nicator's noted city of Larisa
that anciently controlled the pass. The country
beyond is strewn with ruins, showing that it was
wealthy and populous in the Seleucian and Roman
periods, and is dotted with small Arab villages,
their hovels scattered among the relics of bygone
splendors. The trade of this region has, however,
made a flourishing city on the Orontes, in Hama,
where there are eighty thousand people, the place be-
ing picturesquely built in the narrow valley. The
river flows through it, in a double curve, from south-
east to northwest, most of the buildings being on the
southern bank, which rises to a considerable eleva-
tion, culminating in the castle hill elevated 130
feet, although nothing remains of the castle formerly
crowning the summit. There is an excellent view
from this hill over the city, and the fertile river plain
to the westward. The numerous minarets of the
mosques rise everywhere, and the houses, built
mostly of sun-dried bricks or basalt, nestle amid
luxuriant gardens. The winding Orontes is crossed
by four bridges, and along its banks are huge water
wheels, called nanza, that pump the water from the
river, and are going day and night as the current
turns them, with an incessant and unmelodious

ASCENDING THE ORONTES 339

creaking that is destructive of slumber if the trav-
eller rests too near them. This city is the survivor
of ancient Hamath, referred to in the Old Testa-
ment, which was captured by the Assyrians, and
afterward was mentioned by Josephus, as Amatha.
The Moslems and Crusaders held it, and then Tan-
cred, and in 1157 an earthquake destroyed it.
Saladin afterward captured the place, calling it
Hama, and it has had a varying career under Mos-
lem control, but in the later nineteenth century has
been more prosperous, especially since the recent
completion of the railroad connecting it with Bey-
rout.

Above Hama the river is barely one hundred
feet wide, and in most places has burrowed out a
deep gorge, for its winding passage over the wide
intervale, which is treeless, but generally well cul-
tivated, the enclosing mountain ridges rising high
on either hand. The railway gradually mounts the
grade, and about thirty-seven miles southward reaches
Horns, having ascended nearly seven hundred feet
from Hama, and risen to 1,600 feet elevation above
the sea. This is another prosperous place, helped by
the railway traffic and enjoying lucrative trade, there
being about sixty thousand population. It was an-
cient Emesa, the birthplace of Heliogabalus, pro-
claimed Roman emperor in 217, who was the
high priest in the Temple, of Baal, the sun god.
It was here that Aurelian, in 272, defeated Queen

340 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Zenobia's army, thus precipitating her downfall.
The Arabs afterward built a castle that the Cru-
saders captured, and strengthened, and this citadel
existed until Ibrahim Pasha blew it up in 1831.
There remain of the structure now only a portion
of the walls, and one ancient gateway built of basalt.
It looks down upon the town, exhibiting the slender
minarets, the bazaar, and the high wall enclosed
houses with their courts, and extensive cemeteries.
Farther southward the river broadens into the Lake
of Horns, made by a stone dam, a mile and a half
long, which backs up the water so that it spreads
over a surface three miles wide and six miles long.
This dam fully controls the water supply for irriga-
tion. Southward, and near this lake, is the hill of
Tel Mindau, said to have had upon it the ancient
Hittite fortress of Kadesh, while over to the west-
ward is the pass through which the road goes out
to the coast, at Tripoli, commanded by the Kurd
fortress of Kalat el Hosn, once a stronghold of the
Knights Hospitallers. The river, above the Lake
of Horns, dwindles, and near it, in a somewhat bar-
ren region, is Riblah, mentioned in the book of
Numbers as the divinely prescribed northern fron-
tier of Israel. Here, according to the book of
Kings, Pharaoh Necho in the eighth century B. C.
held Israel's king in captivity, when the Pharaoh
was marching to attack the Assyrians, and the same
book mentions a visit by Nebuchadnezzar. Not far

BAALBEK 341

away there rises a perpendicular cliff containing a
cavern with some small and dark cells. In this cave
lived Maron, the founder of the Maronite sect, so
numerous through this part of Syria, and from a
copious spring near by, which bursts out in grand
volume, he got an unfailing water supply. This
spring is one of the chief feeders of the upper
Orontes. For thirty miles farther, the railway
gradually ascends, and ultimately crosses the sum-
mit of the watershed, of this long and famous valley
of "Hollow Syria," at 3,680 feet elevation above
the sea. Here begin both rivers, the Orontes going
northward and the Litani southward.

BAALBEK.

Almost upon the highest part of this watershed
is the famous ruined city of Baalbek, the Greek
Heliopolis, the " city of the sun," now represented
by an Arab village of about 5,000 people scattered
among the ruins, with some monasteries and various
Christian missionary schools. Baalbek, and Pal-
myra, off in the desert to the eastward, are the finest
ruins in Syria. Baalbek stands upon the western
^declivity of the Anti-Lebanon range, a little headj
stream of the Litani bubbling along at the base.
These two ancient cities, that long ago became pic-
turesque in their dilapidation, were located on the
old trade route between Tyre and the interior of
Asia, and were then reckoned among the most splen-

342 THE MEDITERRANEAN

did places of the world. Baalbek is at nearly 3,900
feet elevation, in a fertile region, and when its career
began is unknown, but at the dawn of history it was
a centre of the Phoenician worship of Baal, the
" sun god," and afterward there were temples
erected to Mercury and Venus. Baal, in the orig-
inal guise, was represented as a beardless young
man, wearing a cuirass, holding a whip in his right
hand, and ears of corn and a thunderbolt in the left,
while two bulls accompanied him. The Romans
greatly enlarged the city, Antoninus Pius beginning
a great temple to the three divinities, which was
finished by Caracalla, in the early third century.
The temple was damaged by earthquakes, and partly
destroyed by Theodosius, who built a Christian
church. The Acropolis was converted by the Arabs,
when they got possession in the seventh century, into
a citadel, and they always attributed its construc-
tion to Solomon. This became an important fortress
in many subsequent wars, but since the thirteenth
century Baalbek has been a ruin. Upon the Acrop-
olis are the remains of two temples, the larger being
the structure of Antoninus Pius, and the smaller
a temple of Bacchus. These the Arabs converted
into their citadel. After the ruin of the thirteenth
century, all traces of the place seem to have been
lost for three hundred years, until European trav-
ellers rediscovered it in the sixteenth century. The
earthquakes of 1759 and subsequently did further

BAALBEK 343

great damage, but in the early twentieth century ex-
tensive excavations and partial restorations were
made under German auspices.

Originally, the eastern entrance to the great Tem-
ple of the Sun was a broad flight of steps, leading
up to the Propyla?a, at about twenty feet elevation,
but this is all gone now, and a narrow stairway,
built by the German emperor, among a plantation
of fruit trees, replaces it. The portico was flanked
by towers, and was about two hundred feet wide,
with twelve columns, of which the bases remain,
bearing Latin inscriptions, stating that the temple
was dedicated to the " great gods of Heliopolis " and
was erected by Antoninus Pius and Caracalla. The
towers are mostly Arabian. The portico opens into
the forecourt, a hexagon about two hundred and
fifty feet wide, having mosaic floors and surrounded
by colonnades. The Arabs turned this court into
a fort, using the windows as loopholes for the guns.
From it, through three portals, there were entrances
to the spacious " Court of the Altar " surrounded
on three sides by polished granite colonnades. This
splendid court measures 440 by 3TO feet, and had
originally eighty-four columns, there being remains
of most of them in bases, capitals and other frag-
ments, lying among the ruins, with one monolithic
shaft about twenty-five feet long. The wall deco-
rations were elaborate. On the western side, a
grand flight of steps ascended to the great temple,

344 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and in front of this, near the middle of the court,
stood the colossal altar, about half of which has been
uncovered by the excavations. The other part was
destroyed when Theodosius built his church in this
court, and he also removed the flight of steps, to get
space for three apses, that were on the western end
of the church. Beyond, and at the top of the flight,
was the Great Temple, and the priests entered it,
after they had sacrificed at the altar, by ascending
the steps. This was also known as the " Trilithon
Temple " from three huge stones in the outer
western wall. Little of it now remains, though as
it was on the pinnacle of the Acropolis, six of the
huge columns, composing the peristyle, still stand-
ing, and over sixty feet high, of stone of yellowish
hue, are the most conspicuous landmark for the
visitor on approaching Baalbek. High above them
rise capitals, an architrave, and a cornice, elevated
nearly twenty feet further. The peristyle, of which
these were part, had nineteen columns on each side,
and ten at each end, of which many pieces are scat-
tered about. The terrace, where the temple stood,
had an outer enclosing wall, of stones of huge size,
and on the western part of the wall are the largest
three, the " trilithon," regarded as the greatest
blocks ever used in a building. They are thirteen
feet high, ten feet thick, and measure respectively
in length, sixty-four, sixty-three and one-half, and
sixty-two and one-half feet. In the quarries, south-

BAALBEK 345

west of the town, where these stones were got, there
is another colossal hewn block, evidently intended
for the temple, but never removed. It is seventy
feet long, fourteen feet high, and thirteen feet wide,
weighing about a thousand tons.

On the south side of the Great Temple is the
smaller Temple of Bacchus, one of the best pre-
served of the ancient Syrian buildings. Its peri-
style had fifteen columns on each side, and eight at
the western end, about fifty-two feet high, and bear-
ing an entablature and double frieze. Much of the
Byzantine ornamentation is still preserved. The
northern colonnade is almost wholly in position, and
there are groups of columns on the other sides, but
most of them were thrown down and broken, the
Turks desiring to extract the iron, which was much
sought after. The double row of columns, in the
eastern vestibule, is also well preserved. The beau-
tiful portal is the gem of this building, and the cella,
about ninety feet long and nearly as wide, is in
good preservation, on the northern side, where a
tablet in the wall commemorates a recent visit by
the German emperor. In the village near the
Acropolis is a small circular temple of Venus, hav-
ing Corinthian monolithic columns on the outside,
this having been formerly used as a Greek chapel.
Not far away is the Kas el Ain, a copious spring
which forms one of the headstreams of the Litani,
and having near by the ruins of two mosques. This

346 THE MEDITERRANEAN

is near the old Baalbek quarries, and from the hilltop
above them is a good view over the ruins of the
city, the Acropolis, the broad red plain at the heads
of the two great rivers, the earth being thus col-
ored by oxide of iron ; and at its western verge is
the magnificent range of the Lebanon, rising into its
highest peaks off to the northwest, and having toward
the southeast the broad summit of the Sannin,
which hides from view distant Beyrout and the Med-
iterranean. Such is the present condition and the
picturesque environment of this noted city of the
sun god, Baal.

PALMYRA AND ZENOBIA.

To the eastward of Baalbek rises the Anti-Leb-
anon range, which on its farther side gradually
fades off into the spacious Syrian desert. To the
southward goes the railway, sixty-four miles to
Damascus, while toward the southeast flows the
Litani, with constantly increasing volume, until it
turns westward, and breaks its picturesque gorge
through the Lebanon to get out to the sea. On the
railway route is shown the " tomb of the Prophet
Noah," a structure about a hundred feet long. Here
is also Berzeh, where a Moslem tradition declares
that Abraham was born. Across the Syrian desert,
about one hundred and fifty miles eastward, is the
pleasant oasis of Tadmur, which displays the ruins
of Zenobia's famous city of Palmyra. Over this

PALMYRA AND ZENOBIA 347

desert roam many Bedouin Arab tribes, these nomads
keeping up a constant predatory warfare against the
Druses residing to the northward, attacking and
plundering caravans. These attacks naturally lead
to retaliations, and sometimes cause fierce contests.
In the autumn, of 1905, in one of these battles,
fifty-five of the fighters were killed, and the sur-
viving Druses, who had got the worst of it, went
home to their own land in sorry plight. They were
eager for revenge, however, and in October, 1906,
gathering four thousand men, half of them mounted,
and all armed with rifles, and having a thousand
friendly Bedouin Arabs, who lived in their country,
as allies, they marched over the desert toward Da-
mascus. The Bedouins were waiting for them, in
strong force, at Edh Dhumeyr, about twenty miles
from Damascus, and opened the battle by a charge.
But the Druses, in this fight, were too much for the
Bedouins. The footmen knelt down, and by a well-
aimed rifle fire, swept away the front of the Bedouin
attacking force, and the mounted Druses then rode
in from the flanks, and completed the victory. At
least three hundred Bedouins were killed, and the
Druses, after plundering their camp, returned north-
ward in triumph. As some Damascus merchants
were slain, and their goods stolen in this raid, a bad
condition of affairs resulted, the weak Turkish au-
thority being unable to control the hostile tribes.
It is several days' journey across the desert, by

348 THE MEDITERRANEAN

camel, horseback or carriage, to Palmyra, and the
route passes through the ancient Nezala, now known
as Karyaten, an oasis where there are luxuriant
gardens and wine-growing. The Bedouins say that
here insanity can be cured. The patient is bound,
and confined all night in a room by himself, and
next morning is found without his fetters and with
reason restored. But they add, with an eye to busi-
ness, that if he neglects to pay for the miraculous
recovery, he soon relapses into his former condition.
A tedious ride over the desert beyond displays the
curious lizards and small snakes that come out of
their holes to sun themselves, there having been
counted thirty-three kinds of snakes and forty-four
species of lizards. The ground also, in places, is
honey-combed by the nests of the graceful little
jerboa, or " jumping mouse." The shrill cry of the
harmless little gecho is heard, and at night the jack-
als howl and whimper, the same as they did in the
Biblical days, when they were described as foxes.
But this desert is tolerable, as it rarely has a mosquito.
Long before Palmyra is reached, in the tedious
journey, its great sepulchral tower comes into view.
The oasis of Tadmur, mentioned in the book of
Chronicles, is in the Syrian desert, about one hun-
dred and fifty miles northeast of Damascus, and from
the eastern border it is about five days' camel ride
to the Euphrates. The location is on the northern
edge of the Hammed, the stony and springless

PALMYRA AND ZEXOBIA 349

central region of this great desert, which is so in-
hospitable that all the routes from the Mediterranean
coast eastward make a long detour around it toward
the north, so as to go through this welcome Tadmur
oasis. Various other routes, in ancient times, also
intersected here, making the place a much fre-
quented trading station. The old story was, that
Tadmur had been built in the wilderness by Solomon.
It was originally an Arabian settlement of the car-
avan drivers, and grew to be a city of sufficient
importance and wealth to excite the cupidity of
Mark Antony in 34 B. C. The attraction for the
wandering Arabs was the sacred spring of Ephka,
thus located, far away in the desert that they had
to cross, between the Mediterranean and Euphrates,
its tepid and sulphurous waters having a reputa-
tion for curing the rheumatism, which always pre-
vailed on the oasis, elevated 1,300 feet above the
sea, and swept by cutting winds that produced ex-
treme and sudden variations of temperature. The
spring gushes forth, in copious volume, from a
cavern in the hills west of the town. The water at
about 84° temperature, tastes strongly of sulphur,
but it is the only available water supply, excepting
what is got from wells. A little way down the
stream, leading from the outflowing spring, there is
an ancient altar, and farther along an Arabian mill.
All now remaining of the great city of Palmyra
is a vast aggregation of ruins, and among them is

350 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the modern hamlet of Tadmur, consisting of about
fifty huts, built mostly of fragments of columns,
and the other ancient material strewn about so lib-
erally, the long village streets traversing these ruins.
In its olden time of glory Tadmur became generally
known as Palmyra, from the name given it by the
Greeks.

When Mark Antony made his predatory expedi-
tion, the people carried off their treasures and
deposited them in safety with their Parthian friends
beyond the Euphrates. The subsequent centuries
of wars, between these Parthians and the Romans,
favored the aggrandizement of Palmyra, its period
of splendor beginning in the second century of our
era. The most prized luxuries of the ancient world,
— silks, jewels, pearls, perfumes, etc., — came from
Asia and India, largely by the caravan routes through
this oasis, to Rome, and the traffic made an enor-
mously profitable business for the Palmyra mer-
chants. As a matter of patriotic service, the civic
achievement then regarded as the most laudable was
to successfully organize and conduct a great caravan,
and this was often recognized by monuments erected
in honor of the merchant-conductors.

These monuments, which made such a conspic-
uous feature in Palmyrean architecture, took the
form of statues, placed upon pedestals, projecting
from the upper parts of the long rows of pillars that
lined the chief streets. Every prominent merchant

PALMYRA AND 2ENOBIA 351

was eager to have his name handed down to posterity
by an enduring memorial, and to add to the colon-
nades a series of pillars was the popular method of
conferring honor. Thus arose the great central av-
enue of Palmyra, starting from a triumphal arch
near the Temple of the Sun, which formed the main
axis of the city, from southeast to northwest, for a
length of thirty-seven hundred feet, and at one time
displayed over seven hundred and fifty columns of
rosy white limestone, each fifty-five feet high. Other
streets also were similarly lined with columns. They
were generally shaded from the sun's heat, and in
some parts the pillars seem to have served to sup-
port a raised footway, from which the public could
look down upon the wagons laden with goods, the
camels and donkeys going along with their heavy
loads, and the motley crowds of various races, in
the street beneath. To his other honors, in ancient
Palmyra, the head of a great house was also careful
to add the glory of a splendid family tomb, conse-
crated as the " long home " of himself, his sons,
and his sons' sons forever. These tombs, outside the
city, are among the most interesting monuments of
Palmyra. Some are lofty square towers, with as
many as five sepulchral chambers occupying suc-
cessive stories, and overlook the city and its ap-
proaches, from the slopes of the surrounding hills.
Others are house-like buildings of one story, a richly
decorated portico opening into a hall, whose walls are

352 THE MEDITERRANEAN

adorned with the names, achievements, and sculp-
tured portraits of the dead.

Palmyra reached its greatest fame and prosperity
in the third century of our era. It was a republic,
in which one of the most successful merchants —
Odsenathus — had raised himself to the highest
power, and was succeeded hy his son, of the same
name, who styled himself the King of Palmyra. He
became a Roman ally, and in a sense a vassal, and
was engaged in almost constant warfare in the east
and north, against the Persians and others, but he'
finally arrogated to himself the title of " emperor,"
became independent of Rome, and began making his
own coinage. In the height of his career he was
assassinated. Thus, in the year 267, the power
fell to his wife, Zenobia, who, during the almost
constant wars he waged, had firmly held the reins of
government in Palmyra. This remarkable woman,
who was celebrated not only for her warlike dispo-
sition, but also for her talents and refined taste, is
regarded as the most famous heroine of antiquity.
To her, the Emperor Aurelian, in a letter, ascribed
the chief merit of all her husband's success. She
was Beth Zabbai, a native of Palmyra, of Arabic
descent, and under her Palmyra reached the sum-
mit of its glory. She is described as a dark beauty,
with black, flashing eyes and pearly teeth, having
unusual physical endurance and frank commanding
manners that secured her authority alike in court,

PALMYRA AND ZENOBIA 353

camp and desert. She was not only a strong exec-
utive, but also highly intellectual, speaking all the
languages of the various races over which she ruled.
She conquered and held Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Bythinia and much of Asia Minor, but her ambi-
tion ultimately wrought her ruin, for she dropped
the allegiance to Rome, and this defiance brought
Aurelian's invading cohorts into Syria. He de-
feated her forces near Horns and besieged Palmyra.
She fled to the Euphrates, and he took the city in
273, his pursuers also chasing and capturing the
queen, who was taken to Rome and graced his
triumphal procession. Then the Palmyreans re-
volted, and the emperor destroyed the city. Its
glory was gone, and while there were some subse-
quent restorations, yet the place afterward was little
more than a frontier town, occasionally visited by
earthquakes. It had actually passed so completely
out of sight that in 1678 a party of English, from
their trading post at Aleppo, travelling over the
desert, came upon this oasis and its ruins, and de-
clared they had made an entirely new discovery.

The medieval Arab castle, on the hill northwest of
the town, gives an admirable view over the ruins,
displaying the Street of Columns, the Temple of the
Sun beyond it, the necropolis and sepulchral towers
dotting the slopes, and the gloomy environment of
desert, enclosed by distant barren hills. The con-
spicuous object amid the ruins is the great Temple
VOL. 11—23

354 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of the Sun, which was dedicated to Baal, and was
restored after the Roman destruction of the city. It
and all the Palmyrean buildings were constructed of
the same rosy limestone, that was got from quarries
in the hills near the castle. The temple is on a
raised terrace, which was enclosed by an outer wall,
fifty feet high, and forming a square of about 760
feet on each side. The northern side of this wall
is still in fair preservation, but on the other sides
only the ancient foundations remain, the Arabs
having made the temple a fortress and built the
defences upon them out of the old building ma-
terials. They destroyed the original gateway on the
western side, and constructed a new entrance, having
a lofty pointed portal, up to which a grand flight of
steps, over one hundred feet wide, ascended, the
portico being formed of Corinthian columns, twelve
feet high. In the interior is the modern village of
Tadmur, built among the ruins, the inside of the
enclosing wall having an imposing colonnade, of
which about fifty columns are still preserved, among
the modern houses, there having originally been
nearly four hundred of them. This colonnade en-
closed a large square court, having the temple in
its centre, on a raised platform. It was about 200
feet by 100 feet, surrounded by another noble col-
onnade, fifty feet in height, of which only a few
columns are still standing. Most of them were
thrown down by the Arabs, to get their bronze cap-

PALMYRA AND ZEXOBIA 355

itals. The best architectural relic of this structure
is the beautiful portal of the cella, now a mosque.
From the roof is a fine view of the ruins of the
ancient city and the Arab castle over on the north-
western hill.

Extending from the corner of the temple, toward
the castle, are the remains of the famous Street of
Columns. It begins some five hundred feet from the
temple, and stretches for two-thirds of a mile, with
many remains of splendid buildings and columns,
some of the latter still standing in groups, and others
being overthrown and broken, with remnants of shafts
and capitals scattered upon the surface. Votive in-
scriptions to leaders of caravans are upon some of the
columns ; there are remains of a portico at the begin-
ning of the street, a marketplace where several
streets diverged, walls, foundations of buildings,
huge but prostrate monoliths, some of granite, prob-
ably brought from Egypt, portions of temples, sar-
cophagi, and of other streets also bordered by colon-
nades. Nearly two hundred columns are still stand-
ing in whole or in part. The ancient city lay on both
sides of this Street of Columns, and there are sur-
vivals of the walls which Justinian, in the sixth
century, built to defend the place against Arab in-
cursions. An extensive surface is strewn with the
rubbish of the ruined city, that conceals most of the
street pavements, though their lines can be partly
traced. The gardens and orchards surrounding the

356 THE MEDITERRANEAN

place are also full of antique remains. On the
hill slopes are the sepulchral towers, very numerous,
and a characteristic survival of Palmyra. These
family tombs are mostly of Asiatic architecture,
with inscriptions in Roman, and also in Palmyrean
characters. Many are in decay, having been orig-
inally spacious structures, three or four stories high,
and disclosing, amid the accumulated rubbish of the
interior, remains of mummies, bones, and pieces of
winding sheets soaked in tar. Vandals, however,
have mutilated everything, and stolen all the valu-
ables. The best preserved of these towers is nearly
sixty feet high, tapering toward the apex, and having
a portal covered by a roof. Above, on the wall, is
an inscribed slab, and over it a bracket, with two
winged figures. Here was once placed the bust of
the most distinguished occupant of the tomb. The
interior is richly decorated, being a chamber twenty-
seven feet long and twenty feet high, with a fine
paneled ceiling that was colored in blue and red.
Two rows of busts, ten in all, were at the back of the
chamber. The upper stories were similarly en-
riched. Everywhere are remains of these tombs,
monuments and sepulchral structures, thus environ-
ing the town, and giving an idea of its splendor in
the Zenobian era.

Beyond the boundaries of the Tadmur oasis are
the barren stretches of the great Syrian desert,
through which come the caravans seeking the rest of

PALMYRA AND ZENOBIA 35 7

its shade and the waters of the sacred spring. Over
this desert wander the Arab nomads, who are home-
less, restless and flitting, the same now as they were
in the days of Palmyra's glory. These are the
Bedouins, who despise agriculture and a settled life,
preferring to roam the land with their attractive
Arabian steeds, their camels, sheep and goats, wholly
uncontrolled and independent of any government,
and exacting blackmail from the more prosaic peas-
ant who labors on the soil. The name of Bedouin
comes from Ahl Bedoo, meaning " dwellers in the
open land," in contrast with the Arabs who are in
towns and on farms. Living on the desert, and
usually in tents, they are compelled to follow an out-
of-door life, by the characteristics of their country.
They have to migrate from one place to another to
find enough herbage and water for their animals.
This necessity involves the tribes in frequent quar-
rels, regarding the use of some pasture ground or
well, besides not infrequently reducing them to ex-
treme want, and thus compelling them to plunder
others for self-support. The loneliness of the desert,
far beyond the vigilant control of fixed law, com-
bined with the other circumstances, continued dur-
ing successive generations, has made a peculiar im-
press upon a naturally bold, restless, hardy and en-
terprising race. Thus the term Bedouin and brig-
and have come to be regarded as almost synony-
mous, though this aspersion is scarcely just. They

358 THE MEDITERRANEAN

have horses, herds and camels, and most of them
regard the plundering of caravans and travellers as
a sort of supplementary measure, taking the place
of the customs dues and fees existing elsewhere.
The desert land, they say, is theirs, and trespassers
upon it, without leave, must pay the forfeit. Back-
sheesh, however, judiciously dispensed, will get from
the sheik of a tribe permission to pass, and thus give
some protection. They are a romantic and highly
imaginative race, and thus have been the source of
many interesting contributions to oriental literature.
Bayard Taylor visited them and studied their life
and habits, and in his Poems of the Orient in 1854
composed this characteristic Bedouin Song:

From the desert I come to thee
On a stallion shod with fire;
And the winds are left behind
In the speed of my desire.
Under thy window I stand,

And the midnight hears my cry:
I love thee, I love but thee,
With a love that shall not die,
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold !

Look from thy window and see

My passion and my pain;
I lie in the sands below,

And I faint in thy disdain.
Let the night-winds touch thy brow

With the heat of my burning sigh,
And melt thee to hear the vow

PALMYRA AND ZENOBIA 359

Of a love that shall not die,
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold !

My steps are nightly driven

By the fever in my breast,
To hear from thy lattice breathed

The word that shall give me rest.
Open the door of thy heart,

And open thy chamber-door,
And my kisses shall teach thy lips
The love that shall fade no more,
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold !

THE JORDAN AND SINAI

XIII
THE JORDAN AND SINAI

Damascus — Hedjaz Railway — Sources of the Jordan — Baniyas
— Dan — Laish — Hasbeiya — the Ghor — the Zor — Lake Huleh
— Kades — Safed — Galilee — Mount Tabor — Bethsaida — Tibe-
rias— Sea of Galilee — Magdala — Capernaum — Chorazin —
Cana — Beisan — Samaria — Nabulus — Gerizim — Ebal — Jacob's
Well — Shiloh — Beth-el — Ramah — Karn Sartabah — Bethany
— Stone of Rest — Hill of Blood — Eriha — Jericho — Gilgal —
Bethabara — Elijah's Translation — Dead Sea — Apple of
Sodom — Gilead — Es-Salt — Jebel Osha — Jerash — Ammon —
Moab — Mount Nebo — Dibon — "Moabite Stone — El Karak —
Lydda — Ramleh — Ekron — Gezer — Latrun — Emmaus — Sam-
son and Delilah — Kirjath-Jearim — Jerusalem — Mount Mo-
riah — Mount Zion — Via Dolorosa — The Holy Sepulchre — •
Mount Calvary — the Crucifixion — Mount of Olives — Garden
of Gethsemane — Valley of Jehoshaphat — Valley of Hinnom
— Siloam — Mount of Evil Counsel — Aceldama — Ccenaculum
— Rachel's Tomb — Bethlehem — David's Well — the Nativity —
Frank Mountain — Cave of Adullam — Pools of Solomon — He-
bron— Cave of Machpelah — Gibelon — Ascalon — Esdud — Yeb-
na — Gaza — the Philistines — Beersheba — Engedi — Jebel Us-
dum — Sodom — Valley of Arabah — Edom — Petra — Desert of
Tih — Akabah — Sinai — Jebel Musa — the Monastery — Safsaf
— the Stone of Moses — Jebel Katherin — Mount Serbal —
Oasis of Firan — Maghara — Baths of Pharaoh — Marah — the
Exodus — Suez — the Isthmus and Canal — Port Said.

DAMASCUS.

When Mohammed, coming from the sterile Ara-
bian desert, first beheld the fair white city of Damas-
363

364 THE MEDITERRANEAN

cus, with its copious running waters and delicious
gardens, he is said to have turned his eyes from the
beautiful sight, that " he might not forget Para-
dise." It is natural for an Arab to take delight in
a fertile region, so unlike the arid wastes of his own
land. The Koran depicts Paradise as an orchard,
with streams of flowing water, where the most de-
licious fruits are ever ready to drop into the mouth.
Damascus is the largest Syrian city, and occupies a
site of singular beauty. The Anti-Lebanon range
is west and northwest, and extends far away to the
north and northeast. From its slopes and ravines
come out various streams, which water the city, and
the surrounding girdle of gardens, and then flow off
eastward, to be lost in the Meadow Lakes, about
eighteen miles away in the desert, which stretches
afar into Arabia. Out of a magnificent ravine in
this range flows the Barada, or " cold " river, which
was the Chrysorrhoas, or " golden stream " of the
Greeks, and the Abana of the Bible, mentioned in
the book of Kings. By an admirable system of
channels and pipes, a great deal of which is of
hoary antiquity, this stream, which is divided into
seven branches at the outlet of the gorge, has
its waters conveyed through every quarter of
the city, and into almost every house, besides
being used extensively for irrigation, so that the
verdure is made perennial. The orchards and vine-
yards, thus watered, cover a circuit of about sixty

DAMASCUS 365

miles, being known as the Ghiita. To the south-
ward, another river, the Awaj, the ancient Pharpar,
is made to irrigate nearly a hundred miles more.
In May, when there is full foliage, the vines are
exuberant, and later, when the fruit trees bear
their golden crop above the rich green carpet, the
Damascus girdle of gardens is truly attractive.
Thus eloquently spoke Naaman in the book of
Kings: " Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of
Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? "

The Anti-Lebanon outlier, the bare Jebel Kasyun,
closely borders the northwestern verge of Damascus,
and to the westward is the massive summit of
Mount Hermon. The city is environed by moun-
tains on three sides, and is elevated about 2,300
feet above the sea, while Jebel Kasyun, rising 1,400
feet higher, gives, from its Dome of Victory, near
the top, a magnificent outlook over houses, the far
spreading gardens, and to the southward, the distant
hills of the Hauran. The Moslems regard Kasyun
as sacred, for Adam is said to have lived upon it,
and Abraham came here in his youth, and first ac-
quired a knowledge of the one true God, his father
being a heathen, while, through the line of Ishmael,
he became the progenitor of the Arabs. It was from
this elevation that Mohammed beheld Damascus, but
he did not enter it. The hill is made partly of a
reddish rock, and the legend is that it contained a
blood-stained cavern, where the body of the mur-

366 THE MEDITERRANEAN

dered Abel was hidden. On the slopes grow the
carob beans, the " locusts " on which John the Bap-
tist subsisted while in the wilderness. From this
hill, the superb outlook over the city is like an
Arabian poet's dream, when Paradise is seen from
afar. Tapering minarets, and swelling domes
tipped with golden casements, rise above the white
terraced roofs, and in some places their glittering
tops appear among the green foliage of the gardens.
In the centre is the Great Mosque, and near it the
gray battlements of the old castle. Far to the south-
ward the eye follows the long Meidan suburb, while
nearer, and extending from the foot of the hill to the
city, is the Merj, the wide, green meadow, stretch-
ing along the Barada vale, from the outlet of the
gorge to the houses. Gardens and orchards encom-
pass the buildings round about with a sea of verdure,
while many clumps of trees dot the plain beyond,
almost to the horizon. We look down upon the road,
beyond the gate, where St. Paul, approaching Da-
mascus, encountered the heavenly vision that con-
verted him, and within the city can be traced the
long bazaar, running almost completely through
from west to east, that is the " Street which i& called
Straight," of The Acts, where the Apostle was healed
of his blindness.

Damascus is shaped much like a spoon, the elon-
gated and narrow Meidan suburb, to the southward,
being the handle. It has different quarters, as in

DAMASCUS 367

Apostolic times, the Jewish Quarter, now as then,
being near the " Street which is called Straight."
The Christian Quarter is to the northward, and the
Moslems occupy almost all the rest of the place.
The population is estimated at 200,000, three-
fourths being Moslems, who have about 250 mosques
and schools. How or when the city originated is
unknown, and there are different legends on the sub-
ject, but it was an independent kingdom in the time
of Solomon, and subsequently most of the wars and
politics of Israel and Judah related to Damascus,
the three kingdoms being almost perpetually em-
broiled, until the Assyrians, profiting by their quar-
rels, came and captured all three. Alexander con-
quered Damascus from Darius, and afterward it fell
to the Syrian and Egyptian rulers, and in 85 B. C.
to Aretas of Arabia, and then to the Romans, who
held it for three centuries. It was, however, almost
always subject to Arab forays from the neighboring
desert, and the story is, that the clay walls of the
orchards and dense hedges surrounding the city
were first erected for protection from these attacks.
It was an early seat of the Christians and of the
ministry of St. Paul, while the Emperor Theodo-
sius converted its large heathen temple into a Chris-
tian church. The Arabs captured it in 535, Khalid
Ibn Welid, the victor in the battle of the Yarmuk
Eiver to the southward, taking advantage of the ab-
sence of the guards one night, scaling the wall by a

368 THE MEDITERRANEAN

rope-ladder, opening the east gate, and thus gaining
entrance for his troops, a feat which caused the Da-
mascenes to surrender. Then began its period of
splendor, the Mohammedan capital being trans-
ferred from Medina to Damascus, and the Great
Omayade Mosque being built by Welid's successor,
in the eighth century. The city was repeatedly be-
sieged, but in vain, by the Crusaders, and Saladin
used it as his base, in the successful operations
against them. It had a varied history afterward,
being held and plundered by Mongols, Egyptians
and Tartars, while in 1399 Timur was paid a ran-
som of a million pieces of gold to save it. He car-
ried off its famous armorers as prisoners, so that the
manufacture of Damascus blades flourishes now at
Khorassan and Samarcand, but in Damascus this in-
dustry long ago ceased. The Turks got possession
in the sixteenth century, and have since held it. In
1860, it was disgraced by a horrible massacre of
the Christians, fourteen thousand being slain and
their quarter almost destroyed. It has since become
rather decadent, the opening of the Suez Canal
diminishing its caravan trade to the Indies, though
the fertile environment supports a large population.
There has, however, been some recent revival, an
electric street railway being constructed, and electric
lights introduced into the Great Mosque and other
buildings and the principal streets, a most aston-
ishing innovation in the old Arab city.

DAMASCUS 369

The Great Mosque is about 430 feet long and 125
feet wide. A heathen temple stood on the site, and
was converted into a Christian church, in the early
fifth century, being called the Church of St. John,
as it contained a casket in which the head of John
the Baptist was shown, the townspeople even yet
swearing by this " Head of Yahia." For a time,
after the Moslem capture, they held the east side,
and the Christians the west side of this church, both
entering to worship by the same gate. Then the
Khalif Welid, who reigned, beginning in 705, re-
moved the Christians from their side, giving them
other churches in the city, and, taking away the
greater part of the structure, he erected the mosque.
Extravagant descriptions are given of its early splen-
dors by Arabic authors, the architects being Greeks,
and twelve hundred artists coming from Constan-
tinople and elsewhere for its decoration. Grand
columns were gathered from all parts of Syria for
it, the rarest marbles covered the pavements and
lower walls, mosaics enriching the upper portions
and the dome. Precious stones were inlaid in the
prayer niches ; golden vines entwined their arches ;
the wooden ceiling was decorated with gold, and
from it hung six hundred golden lamps. To cap all,
the cost became so great that the bills rendered to the
khalif, by the artificers, are said to have made
loads for eighteen mules. The structure was partly

burnt in the twelfth century, and again in 1893, but
VOL. 11—24

370 THE MEDITERRANEAN

there lias been a restoration recently. The chief min-
aret of the mosque — el Gharbijeh — is its master-
piece, and rises on the southwest side, an octagon,
with three galleries, one above the other, and taper-
ing at the top, surmounted by a ball that is crowned
with a crescent. There are two smaller minarets —
el Arus, or the " bride's minaret," on the northern
side, and the Madinet Isa, on the southwestern side,
so called from a tradition that at the Last Judgment
Jesus will take His place on its top.

Unlike most mosques, the interior resembles a
church, there being a nave and aisles, formed by
two rows of columns, and a transept crossing, made
by four massive piers. The columns are about
twenty-three feet high and graceful colonettes sur-
mount them. The richly painted beams above sup-
port pointed ceilings, from which the lamps are
hung. The interior is open toward the large court.
The names of the early khalifs and texts from the
Koran are liberally inscribed. The dome rises upon
an octagonal substructure, and is called the Kubbet
en Nisr, the " dome of the vulture," because the
aisles of the mosque, as seen in looking down from
it, are thought to resemble the bird's outspread
wings. In the transept is a gilded building, sur-
mounted by a crescent, said to stand over the head
of John the Baptist, which the Khalid ibn Welid,
according to tradition, found in a crypt below.
Near by is a handsome pulpit, and toward the court

DAMASCUS 371

the " Fountain of John." This court is surrounded
by columns, supporting forty-seven arches, partly of
horseshoe shape, and has in the centre the Kubbet
en Naufara, the " dome of the fountain," which the
Moslems describe as standing midway on the route
between Constantinople and Mecca. Here they per-
form their ablutions before prayer. At the end of
the southern, transept are the remains of the beau-
tiful gate which the Christians and Moslems are
said to have alike used to enter the early structure.
Above it, in Greek, is the inscription : " Thy king-
dom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy
dominion endureth throughout all generations."
There are two Moslem schools adjoining the mosque,
and also the handsome mausoleum of Saladin, while
a little farther away is the tomb of the Sultan
Beibars, a red sandstone structure, with an impres-
sive portal, built in the thirteenth century. Here
rest that famous conqueror and his son. The Citadel
of Damascus is a short distance west of the mosque,
built alongside the main channel of the Barada, a
large square structure, also of the thirteenth cen-
tury, with very thick walls, and surrounded by a
moat that on the southern side is covered by a
bazaar and street.

Damascus has few antiquities or ancient build-
ings. Its chief attraction for the visitor is the va-
riety of costumes of the people, the motley traffic
of the streets, and the extensive bazaars, where all

372 THE MEDITERRANEAN

kinds of trade are carried on. These bazaars, or
Suks, have long been celebrated, and are among
the most famous in the Orient. They are narrow
covered lanes, with ranges of open stalls on each side,
every department of trade having its own section.
Directly through them runs the " Long Bazaar," the
Suk et Tawileh, extending almost across the entire
ancient city, and which corresponds to the " Street
which is called Straight." It originally had, on
each side, a double colonnade, and there still re-
main fragments of these columns, within and front-
ing some of the houses. Nearly all the public life
of the city is presented in these bazaars, and here
is conducted most of the trade. The long and nar-
row suburb of the Meidan stretches a mile south-
ward, and is mostly of modern construction, but
its mosques are generally dilapidated. This is a
Bedouin district, and they and the Kurds, and peas-
ants from the mountainous Hauran district to the
southward, are numerous. These people appear in
crowds, especially on the two great days of the year
in Damascus, that on which the caravan of pilgrims
starts for Mecca, and the day of the return. The
starting place is at the end of the Meidan, called
Bauwabet Allah, or the "Gate of God." This
pilgrimage is not so extensive as formerly, how-
ever, as many of the pilgrims now go by sea, rather
than overland, but it is nevertheless interesting.
The holy tent of the pilgrim caravan is preserved

DAMASCUS S73

in the Great Mosque. An escort of soldiers, Bed-
ouins, Druses, and many dervishes usually accom-
panies the procession, and a handsome camel, richly
caparisoned, bears a large litter, hung with green
and gold embroidered cloth, which carries an old
and revered Koran and the prophet's green flag.
Eastward of the Meidan is the ancient burial
ground, where two of Mohammed's wives and his
daughter Fatima were interred, the women of Da-
mascus going there every Thursday to commune at
their graves, over which has been built a modern
dome of clay. Here also was buried Muawiya, the
first khalif of the Omayades, and in a mosque near
by is the tomb of Abu Ubeida, the commander of
the Arabs who captured Damascus. Farther east-
ward, in the city wall, is the Bab Kisan, a gate
built by the Arabs in Muawiya's time, in the eighth
century, and the Moslems yet solemnly point out
a window above the wall as the one where the dis-
ciples let down St. Paul in a basket by night, so that
he might escape from his enemies within the city.
The place of his conversion is located, by tradition,
upon the approaching highway just outside this gate.
At the southern end of the Meidan are railway
stations. One is for the narrow gauge road of
sixty-three miles into the mountainous Hauran
district, and the other is for the Hedjaz railway,
also a narrow gauge road. The Hedjaz is the long
and narrow Arabian province upon the eastern

374 THE MEDITERRANEAN

shore of the Red Sea in which are the two sacred
cities of Islam, Medina and Mecca, the latter near
its southern termination, and having its port of
Jiddah out on the Red Sea coast. This Hedjaz rail-
way is being constructed under the auspices of the
Turkish sultan, and was begun in August, 1900, as
a pious undertaking to facilitate the pilgrimages of
the faithful to Mecca, and for this work contribu-
tions and tithes are gathered, not only throughout
Turkey, but from all Mohammedan countries. The
distance from Damascus to Mecca is about 1,120
miles, and in 1906 the road was opened to El Ma-an,
285 miles from Damascus, a small place, where the
caravans to Mecca formerly stopped for rest and
water. This is near Petra in Arabia, the road
closely following the old caravan route of the pil-
grims, and the opening of that portion of the line
brought in a large increase of the farming popula-
tion. South of El-Ma-an the road climbs an eleva-
tion of 3,700 feet, and then descends into the dry
plain of Tebuk, sacred to the memory of the
prophet, who knelt here in prayer, after the first
repulse of the Moslem force which invaded Syria,
and prophesied that here, amid the desolation, a town
would one day arise. Then the road mounts
another summit ridge of 3,750 feet, the Dar el
Hamra, or the " Red Land," amid sharp peaks of
red sandstone in serried rows, rising from foothills
of yellow sand, making weird scenery. Descending

SOURCES OF THE JORDAN 375

to Medain Saleh and Heliah, it afterward has an
easy ascent to Medina, where it was completed in
August, 1908, and opened with an elaborate cere-
mony September 1st, the anniversary of the Sultan's
accession. This sacred city, the burial place of the
prophet, is about 700 miles from Damascus, and the
entire road to Mecca, where he was born, is expected
to be finished by 1913. A branch is contemplated
from Mecca to Jiddah on the Red Sea coast.
Another branch leaves the line at Daraa, about sev-
enty-seven miles south of Damascus, and goes out
to the Mediterranean shore at Haifa. Over this
Hedjaz railway a large portion of the Moslem pil-
grimage from Turkey, Persia and Syria, to Mecca,
now travels, the pilgrims taking the camel caravans
beyond the temporary terminus.

SOTJKCES OP THE JORDAN.

Westward from Damascus rises the massive sum-
mit of Mount Hermon, and upon its flanks are the
sources of the chief river of Palestine, and one of
the most famous in the world — the Jordan. This
mountain, against whose cool slopes blow the moist
winds from the sea, condenses a vast amount of
vapor, and thus the " dews of Hermon," that were
so welcome to the Israelites, supply many springs
which, on its western and southern declivities, com-
bine in three brooks. These unite, at a place called
Sheikh Yusuf, to form the sacred river, having an

376 THE MEDITERRANEAN

initial width of about forty-five feet. The Jordan
is known as the " swift flowing," and is also the
Arabic esh Sheria, or the " watering place." The
historical source of the river is at Baniyas, in a nook
on the southwestern slope of the mountain, elevated
1,080 feet above the sea level, which is now only a
small village, but anciently much larger, when it was
the Greek Paneas, and subsequently became the
Cassarea Philippi of Herod. This is said to have
been the most northerly place visited by Christ, and
an early Christian tradition indicates that here oc-
curred the healing of the woman with the issue of
blood, recorded by St. Matthew. The town had a
castle, of which several towers and some walls re-
main, while overlooking it from an outlying spur
of the mountain is the massive castle of Subeibeh,
one of the greatest strongholds in the Holy Land,
built by the Franks, in the twelfth century. This
source of the Jordan is in a cavern, where a pre-
cipitous cliff of red limestone has been broken down
by some natural convulsion, so that masses of rocks
and debris choke the entrance. Underneath these
the waters rush out in many rivulets, that first form
a beautiful clear basin and then flow swiftly away.
This place was long sacred to the sylvan god Pan,
and in the face of the cliff are votive niches, while
alongside stood the ancient Paneion and Temple of
Herod, which he built over the outlet of the stream,
in honor of Augustus.

SOURCES OF THE JORDAN 377

A little way Avestward is the most copious source
of the Jordan, though at an elevation that is some
500 feet lower. This is the Tel el Kadi, or the
" Hill of the Judge," an extensive mound, rising
about thirty or forty feet above the plain. The Kadi
is the Arabic Judge, and Dan is the Hebrew Judge.
On this mound was the ancient city of Dan, the
northern frontier town of the land of Israel, de-
scribed in the Bible as extending from Dan to Beer-
sheba. It was originally the Tyrian city of Laish,
before King Benhadad of Syria got possession, and
it became the portion of the Danites. On the west-
ern side is the most copious fountain in Syria,
forming a basin nearly two hundred feet in diameter,
from which the stream emerges, which Josephus
called the Lesser Jordan. This source provides
twice as much water as the stream from Baniyas, and
three times as much as the third source, and much
larger stream, the Hasbani, that comes down from
farther north, originating on the slope of Hermon
near Hasbeiya. High to the westward of this latter
stream rises the Jebel Hunin, 2,953 feet, sur-
mounted by another great fortress of the middle
ages, towering more than 2,000 feet above the Has-
bani valley. This castle was greatly damaged by an
earthquake in 1837. Jebel Hunin is said to have
been the Beth Rehob, the most northerly point in the
" Promised Land," reached by the spies of Moses,
as recorded in the book of Numbers. The Hasbani

378 THE MEDITERRANEAN

flows for about fifteen miles before joining the other
sources, and that from Baniyas flows for five miles,
descending mostly through thickets and cane-brakes.
It goes down from the source nearly 1,100 feet in
twelve miles from Baniyas to Lake Huleh, the famed
" waters of Merom," that lake being about at sea
level.

The Jordan is very tortuous, but its general course
is toward the south, and mostly in a deep trough-like
valley, called the Ghor, which follows the line of a
" fault " or fracture in the earth's surface, and for
more than two-thirds of its course the river flows
below the sea level. The Jordan is unnavigable ; no
important town has been built on its banks; and it
runs into the Dead Sea, which has neither outlet
nor port> and is practically destitute of animal life.
Prom its sources to the Dead Sea, the Jordan rushes
down an almost continuous inclined plane, here and
there broken by rapids and small falls. From
Huleh to the Sea of Galilee is a little over ten miles,
and the river descent is 682 feet. Galilee is nearly
thirteen miles long, and after leaving it, the river
at first descends about forty feet per mile, but the
fall gradually decreases to only four or five feet per
mile nearer the Dead Sea. In this section the Jor-
dan is so crooked that in a direct distance of sixty-
five miles it traverses at least two hundred miles.
Its actual flow is in a depression called the Zor, from
a quarter to two miles wide, which the current has

SOURCES OP THE JORDAN 379

hollowed out for itself in the bed of the Ghor. Dur-
ing the rainy season of winter, when the Jordan
overflows its banks, the Zor is flooded, and when the
torrent declines, the valley produces rich crops.
The total length, in a direct line from Baniyas to
the Dead Sea, is one hundred and four miles, and
the Dead Sea level is nearly 1,300 feet below the
Mediterranean, so that the whole descent of the river
is over 2,300 feet. South of Galilee the Ghor varies
in width from four to fourteen miles. Where it is
joined by the Plain of Esdraelon, the width is about
eight miles. The river is mostly hidden, in the Zor,
by a dense jungle of cane, willow and tamarack,
growing to the water's edge in the sunken channel,
the Zor generally having steep banks fifty to one
hundred feet high. For the last few miles, the
stream is free from jungle, flowing through a muddy
flat, and is one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet
in width. In summer the heat of the Ghor is intense,
rising to 110° in the shade, but in the winter nights
the temperature will decline to the freezing point.

It is a significant historical fact that in the year
1257, the Jordan, for several hours, was dammed by
a landslip, due to heavy rains, near the spot opposite
Jericho, where a similar stoppage took place when
the Israelites crossed. Two stone bridges cross the
river, one above and the other below Lake Huleh,
and a wooden bridge crosses on the road from Jeru-
salem to Gilead and Moab, over on the eastern side.

380 THE MEDITERRANEAN

There anciently were bridges, built by the Romans
and the Arabs, on all the leading routes of commu-
nication between eastern and western Palestine.
When not in flood, the river is easily fordable, and
between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are
more than fifty fords, some being of great historic
interest, and the most important Abarah, near Baisan,
and Bethabara, east of Jericho. The Yarmuk and
Jabbuk are tributary streams, on the eastern side,
and on the western are the Jelud, passing Baisan
and Faria, coming from Shechem. Many salt
springs flow into the lower river. This remarkable
Jordan valley has been well described as a tropi-
cal oasis sunken in the temperate zone and over-
hung by the Alpine Hermon, so that its products are
varied and unique.

Lake Huleh, the upper collecting basin of the Jor-
dan, is a shallow, triangular lake, from ten to sixteen
feet in depth, with jungle-bordered and swampy
shores, especially on the north, where there is a pro-
fuse growth of papyrus. A little way to the north-
west is Kades, the Kedesh of the tribe of Naphtali,
which was the native place of Barak, who was Deb-
orah's general, and both were entombed here. It
is now a small village, with some interesting remains.
To the southwest is the large town of Safed, with
thirty thousand people, the highest in Galilee, its
elevation being 2,749 feet, and its ruined castle, com-
manding a magnificent view, is a survival of the

GALILEE 381

wars between the Crusaders and the Saracens. It
is overlooked by the highest mountains in Pales-
tine, west of the Jordan, Jebel Jermak, rising 3,933
feet, and on the southern horizon is the magnificent
summit of Mount Tabor. This is regarded as a
sacred town, for, according to the Jewish tradition,
the Messiah is to come from Safed. After the six-
teenth century, it was the seat of a noted rabbini-
cal school, of which the most learned teachers were
Spanish Jews. To the southward, on the caravan
route leading from the sea coast at Acre, inland to
Damascus, is the ruined Kahn Jubb Yusuf, which
gets its name from an Arabian tradition, that here
was the pit into which Joseph was thrown by his
brethren, and the more enthusiastic townsfolk still
show the pit.

GALILEE.

The land of Galilee is the region to the north
and west of Lake Tiberias, being " the district of
the heathens," which was colonized by the Jewish
tribes of Asher, Zebulon and Issachar, that ulti-
mately extended over to the Litani and the Plain of
Esdraelon. It was a land of beauty and fertility,
with rich pastures and luxuriant groves, and, in the
Kdman days was densely populated, attaining its
highest prosperity at the time of Christ, when Herod
Antipas founded its capital on the shore of the lake,
naming it Tiberias in honor of the Roman Emperor.

382 THE MEDITEKRANEAN

In coming southward, along the roads from Huleh,
into this pleasant region, and descending the Jordan
valley, the rider is all the while rounding the green
sides of Mount Tabor, and threading its oaken
groves on the lower slopes, the famous mountain
being in sight almost throughout the journey down
to Jerusalem. Just below Huleh, the Jisr Benat
Yakub, the " Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob,"
crosses the Jordan, which is here about eighty feet
wide, this stone bridge of the fifteenth century hav-
ing three arches. This was the great caravan route
of ancient times between Egypt and Damascus and
the Euphrates, and Jacob is said to have here crossed
the Jordan at a ford. The steep river banks are
bordered with oleanders and papyrus, and there are
remains of a Templar castle, which once controlled
the crossing. The Jordan flows briskly down to the
Lake of Tiberias, through its deep gorge, and
emerges upon a plain at the north end of the lake,
there being on a hill slope the ruins of El-Tell, the
Biblical Bethsaida, " the house of fish," which was
the birthplace of Peter and John, and was rebuilt
by Philip, the son of Herod, as a Roman town, being
named Julias after the daughter of Augustus.

The Lake of Tiberias was anciently Kinneret, a
name derived from its irregular oval form likened
to a kinner or lute. This name subsequently be-
came Gennesaret, and the lake is also called the Sea
of Galilee. It is about thirteen miles long and six

Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee.

GALILEE 383

miles wide, the waters in places being 160 feet deep,
and the surface is 681 feet below sea level, when in
normal form. It has rich soils all around, and green
sloping shores, the blue waters presenting a pleasant
view. On the western shore is Tabariyeh, the an-
cient Tiberias, the capital, with its black basalt
houses, beautiful mosque minaret, numerously
domed serai or town-hall, and various churches. On
the hill to the north the ruins of the extensive castle
overlook the town, and near by is the tomb of the
famous Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who lived
in the twelfth century. There are synagogues on
the bank of the lake, and upon this shore we are told
took place the miraculous draught of fishes. The
extensive ruins, south of the town, show that the
ancient city covered a much larger surface. The
hot saline and sulphur springs are much extolled.
There are five thousand people here, about two-
thirds being Jews. After Titus destroyed Jerusa-
lem, Tiberias became the chief seat of the Jewish
nation, the Sanhedrim and School of the Talmud
being brought here, and in the second century, the
ancient traditional law, known as the Mishna, was
published at Tiberias. The study of the Talmud is
still flourishing. Saladin attacked Tiberias, and
this caused the battle of Hattin to the westward, in
which he overcame the Crusaders, July, 1187, and
captured Palestine. On the hill of Hattin is shown
the grave of Jethro, and it is also called the " Moun-

384: THE MEDITERRANEAN

tain of the Beatitudes," being regarded as the scene
of the Sermon on the Mount.

On the lake shore, north of Tiberias, is the little
village of Mejdel, which was Magdala, the birth-
place of Mary Magdalen. A gorge conies down,
having bordering cliffs nearly 1,200 feet high, and
the ruins of a castle survive, which was composed
mostly of caverns in the rocks connected by passages,
an almost inaccessible fastness, haunted by robbers
in the Biblical times. Herod besieged them, and
could only reach and destroy them by letting down
soldiers, in cages, on the face of the cliff, to the
mouths of the caverns. Hermits afterward sought
refuge in these caves. Numerous springs and
streams feed the lake, among them being the copious
fountain of the Ain et Tabigha, the " seven springs,"
once supposed to be the scene of the miraculous feed-
ing of the multitude, mentioned by St. Mark. On
the northwestern border of the lake is Tell Hum,
which has extensive ruins, and was the ancient Ca-
pernaum. Here was St. Peter's house, and in the
sixth century a church was erected on the site.
The Franciscans now control the place. Up the
ravine of a brook, coming out of the northwestern
hills, are the ruins of Kerazeh, which was the ancient
Chorazin, an important town at the beginning of
the Christian era. Across on the eastern shore of
the lake are ruins of cities of Biblical times, among
them Gamala, of the " possessed swine," which got

GALILEE 385

its name from the resemblance of the hill, on which
it stood, to the back of a camel, Susiyeh, the old
time Hippos, and Kursi, which was the Gergesa of
St. Matthew. To the westward of the lake, on the
road from Tiberias to Nazareth, is El-Meshhed, the
Goth-Hepher of Zebulon, which was Jonah's birth-
place, and near by is the spring of Kafr Kenna, the
Cana of John, where the water was made wine.
Here are both Roman and Greek churches, the latter
having stone jars that are solemnly exhibited as
having been the ones used in the miracle. The
actual site is now occupied by a ruined synagogue,
which stands where

The conscious water saw its God and blushed.

The shores of the Lake of Tiberias are not pleas-
ant as a habitation. Lying so low, and being shut
in by the western hills, the climate in summer is
very warm, with high thermometer, ague and fevers
abounding. The Jordan flows out of the southern
end of the lake, at first in a comparatively straight
course, but soon becomes wayward and tortuous.
To the westward rise the noble green slopes of Mount
Tabor, dominating the view. The Jordan receives
the Yarmuk just below the outlet of the lake, which
comes from the Hauran Mountains, off to the north-
east, and contributes a volume of water fully equal
to that flowing from the lake. Farther down, the

railway from the coast to Damascus, crosses the Jor-
VOL. 11—25

386 THE MEDITERRANEAN

dan at the Mujami bridge, a structure about two
hundred feet long, and the road then ascends the
vale of the Yarmuk. About sixteen miles south of
the lake, the ravine of the Jalud tributary is cut
steeply down through the western hills to the Ghof,
and thus brings in the railway. In an expansion of
this valley, elevated about 300 feet above the river,
is the village of Beisan, which was the Beth Sheen
of the Old Testament, and the Scythopolis of the
Greeks and Romans, then a much more important
place than now. To the northward rises Mount
Gilboa, and westward, toward Mount Carmel,
spreads the Plain of Esdraelon, whence comes the
Jalud. In Saul's time it was in the territory of
Manasseh, though belonging to the Canaanites, and
when Saul, from Mount Gilboa, came here to battle
on the plain, and was beaten by the Philistines, his
body, and those of his sons, were gibbeted at
Beth Sheen until the men of Gilead took them down
and gave them honorable burial. Then was made
David's plaintive lament for Saul and Jonathan.
There are numerous ruins all about, showing its
ancient extent and importance — theatres, forts,
churches, temples and tombs.

SAMABIA.

Ancient Samaria was the district of central Pal-
estine, westward of the Jordan, and its name came
from the isolated, terraced hill, rising more than

SAMARIA. 387

three hundred feet above the lowlands of the plain,
whereon is now the village of Sebastiyeh. This was
originally Shamron, the " watch hill," founded by
King Omri of Israel, in the ninth century B. C. It
was the capital for a time, until taken by the Assyr-
ians. Herod rebuilt it, as Sebaste, the Greek name
for Augusta, and here St. Philip preached the Gos-
pel, as recorded in The Acts. High upon the hill-
top, the Crusaders' Church of St. John the Baptist,
a long way off, catches the eye, as the visitor ap-
proaches the town. It is now a mosque, and is said
to have been built over St. John's tomb, the Mos-
lems reverencing him as a prophet. They take you
down into a small chamber, hewn out of the rock,'
in the crypt, and look through apertures into three
empty tomb-chambers, and the tradition is told that
these were the tombs of Elisha, of Obadiah, and of
John the Baptist. There are extensive ruins in the
town, showing that it once had elaborate structures.
The summit of the hill, whereon Herod erected his
temple, is at an elevation of 1,452 feet above the sea,
and Isaiah compared it to a crown, the outlook over
the lower and gently sloping hills, all around, being
superb.

On a terrace below is the Street of Columns,
which Herod carried around the hill, making
a colonnade more than a mile long and sixty feet
wide, some of the columns being monoliths, and
still standing. The hill gave its name to the re-

388 THE MEDITERRANEAN

ligious sect of the Samaritans, which is still repre-
sented by a few families here, though there is a
larger community of them, numbering possibly two
hundred, at Nabulus to the southward. They claim
to possess the orthodox religion of Moses, and de-
clare that the true sanctuary of God's choice is
Mount Gerizim, overhanging that city, where they
anciently had a temple.

l^abulus, which was the Greek name for Shechem,
the patriarchal city of the " shoulder back," com-
manding the pass on the road to Jerusalem, is but a
little way southward. Here the route to the Holy
City turns toward the east, to go through the moun-
tain gorge, between Ebal to the north, the summit
rising 3,077 feet, and Gerizim to the southward,
elevated 2,849 feet. This is the vale of Shechem,
and provides an easy route between the coastal plain
of the Mediterranean and the deep Jordan depres-
sion to the eastward, and at the highest point of the
watershed, elevated about 1,870 feet, the vale is not
more than 300 feet wide. Here stands the city of
]STabulus, commanding not only the great road, com-
ing north from Jerusalem, and branching here, both
to the northeast and to the northwest, but also other
routes from the coast going over to the Jordan.
The situation of ancient Shechem, at the junction
of so many important roads, gave it strategic power
in early times, and it is still a busy town of twenty-
five thousand people, with a military garrison, and

SAMARIA 389

having considerable trade. The settlement was said
to be old in the days of Abraham ; Joshua gathered
here the last assembly of his people; Abimelech, the
son of Gideon and of a daughter of Shechem, once
ruled it; Rehoboam's national assembly met here
in the tenth century B. C. ; it was Jeroboam's cap-
ital, and fifty years later Omri transferred his royal
residence to the then newly founded Samaria, the
name of which gradually overspread the entire
surrounding country. Then came the pagans, and
from their union with Israelites who had been left
behind in the Assyrian conquest sprang the race
of Samaritans, who built their temple on Mount
Gerizim, where it stood until 129 B. C., when it
was destroyed, though the site was always afterward
held sacred. The Jews regarded the Samaritans
reproachfully, and in the first century of our era
Vespasian conquered Shechem, slaying eleven thou-
sand people. Rebuilt after the war, the city was
named Flavia Neapolis, whence came the present
Greek title of ISTabulus. The Samaritans still con-
duct their ancient religious ceremonies, and they ex-
pect the Messiah to appear here six thousand years
after the creation of the world. They celebrate all
the Mosaic festivals, and thrice annually make pil-
grimages to their sacred Mount Gerizim.

Upon the large plateau, forming the summit of the
mountain, are the ruins of a castle of the Roman
days. There are also the foundations of an ancient

390 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Christian church, which antedated the Arab con-
quest. At a lower level, are some massive construc-
tions, which, according to the tradition, are the
twelve stones of the altar that Joshua originally
erected, while in the centre of the plateau is a pro-
jecting rock, the Samaritans describing it as the
site of their altar. Profuse ruins appear every-
where, paved terraces and many cisterns showing
that the top of the mountain once was crowned
with buildings. Abraham, according to one tradi-
tion, came here to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice,
and the exact spot is pointed out. The noble pros-
pect from the mountain top displays the broad plain
of El Makhna, to the eastward, with the mountains
of Gilead as a background beyond the Jordan, the
grand peak of Osha, elevated 3,600 feet, towering
conspicuously. Over to the west is the distant
blue band of the Mediterranean, with Mount Carmel
in the northwest. Mount Hermon is to the north-
ward, but the greater part of that view is domi-
nated by the massive Mount Ebal, rising much
higher than Gerizim, across the narrow ravine, down
in the bottom of which is the town. There are
ruins of a castle and a church on Ebal's summit,
and also a Moslem chapel, which attracts pilgrims,
and is said to contain the skull of John the Baptist.
In the town, nestling within the long ravine, are
many manufactories of olive-oil soap, which is the
chief industry. There are various Christian mis-

Jacob's Well.

SAMARIA 391

sions, having churches and schools, and the numer-
ous streams, coming from springs high on the moun-
tain sides, make rushing waters everywhere. The
Great Mosque of Nabulus was originally a Chris-
tian church, built in Justinian's reign, and rebuilt
by the Crusaders. There is also the " Mosque of
Victory," another Crusaders' church, the " Mosque
of the Lepers," some of whom live here, and the
" Mosque of Heaven," standing on the alleged spot
where Jacob rested when Joseph's coat was brought
him by his brethren. Yet another, and more mod-
ern, mosque stands where the Moslem tradition says
was the " Tomb of Jacob's Sons." In the Samari-
tans' synagogue is a codex of the Pentateuch, which
they claim was written by the grandson or great-
grandson of Aaron ; but this tale is doubted.

The ravine, between the mountains, extends east-
ward to the plain of El Makhna. The roads, coming
from the west and the north, unite and turn south-
ward toward Jerusalem. Here, about a mile from
Shechem, is the traditional Well of Jacob. Before
reaching it is Joseph's tomb, the " parcel of ground "
referred to in the book of Joshua, which was bought
by Jacob, and where were laid " the bones of Joseph
which the children of Israel brought up out of
Egypt." Jacob's Well is a cistern, about eight feet
in diameter and very deep, its opening being in the
crypt of a Crusaders' chapel, built on the ruins of
an earlier church. This is the well where Jesus met

392 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the woman of Samaria, who came from Sychar.
Farther south is Awertah, with the tombs of Eleazar
and Phineas, and still farther, the ruins of Seilun,
the Shiloh of Scripture, where the temple of Je-
hovah stood, with the A'rk of the Covenant; the
daughters of Shiloh, as recorded in the book of
Joshua, giving dances at the annual festival; and
here lived the venerable Eli and the youthful Sam-
uel. There are remains of various ancient struc-
tures, with a terrace on the hillside, where it is said
the tabernacle stood. The route to the southward
crosses the favored territory of Ephraim, and, at its
frontier, comes to Beitan, which was Beth-el, the
" House of God," a town allotted to the tribe of
Benjamin. It was at Beth-el Jacob had his dream
of the ladder reaching to Heaven, with the angels
ascending and descending. To the westward is
Tibneh, where, among some rock-tombs, the grave
of Joshua is shown. Going farther south, the route
crosses the land of Benjamin, passing El Bireh, or
the " cistern," so called from its abundant water
supply, and the village of Eamah, mentioned in
the book of Kings, finally entering Jerusalem by
the Damascus Gate.

JEKICHO AND THE DEAD SEA.

The winding and erratic Jordan flows down
through the Ghor, below Lake Tiberias, and the high
hills, on its western verge, culminate in the lofty sum-

JERICHO AND THE DEAD SEA 393

mit of the Karn Sartabah, rising 2,227 feet above the
river, being the conspicuous landmark of the valley.
The Talmud records that this peak belonged to a
chain of mountains, whereon the advent of the new
moon was proclaimed by a series of beacon fires.
There are ruins of a spacious castle on the top, a
stronghold of Herod. The land westward of the Jor-
dan, and south of Samaria, is Judea, the name
derived from the kingdom of Judah, and within
it were enacted the principal events of the life and
death of Jesus. It is the Mecca of pilgrims, and
the sacred home of the foundation of the Chris-
tian Church. Thus writes the good Quaker poet
Whittier:

Blest land of Judea! Thrice hallowed in song!
Where the holiest of memories, pilgrimlike, throng:
In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea,
On the hills of thy beauty, my heart is with thee.

The caravan route, down the western side of the
Ghor, from Beisan, leads to Jericho, and then con-
tinues, by climbing out of the valley, to Jerusalem.
Coming down from the Holy City, this latter route
reaches Bethany, a few miles away, a wretched
village of hovels now, but famous as the home of Laz-
arus, Mary and Martha, where Jesus restored Laz-
arus to life. The present Arabian name of the vil-
lage is El Azariyeh, meaning " Lazarus." They
have here a ruined tower, which is pointed out as
the house of Simon the Leper, in which Jesus was

394 THE MEDITERRANEAN

anointed by the woman, with precious ointment, and
near by is a cave tomb, where Lazarus is said to have
been buried, and was raised from the dead. A few
feet away is the supposed site of his house, but this
is rivalled by another site — one location being held
by the Greek Church and the other by the Roman
Catholics. The Moslems control the tomb, and have
a small mosque alongside, for Islam regards Lazarus
as a saint. Numerous churches and monasteries
were built at Bethany, in the early Christian era, but
the Moslems, when they got possession, destroyed
most of these structures. Near the village, on the
road to Jericho, is a Greek chapel, enclosing the
" Stone of Rest," a small boulder, marking the spot
where Martha met Jesus, when she went out to meet
him on his way to help her brother. The road be-
yond descends through a ravine, past the Apostles'
Spring, and reaches the Kahn Hadrur, where is lo-
cated the scene of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
The " Hill of Blood," named from its red rocks and
surmounted by a castle of the Crusaders, overlooks the
Kahn. A little way farther, upon coming out of
the ravine, the visitor's view develops into a fine land-
scape of the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea, its deep
blue waters stretching far away to the southward.
Passing the ruins of ancient Jericho, the route soon
enters Eriha, the modern village, high above the Jor-
dan, yet 820 feet below the level of the Mediter-
ranean. It has barely three hundred residents, and

Bethany.

395

the greater part of these are a woefully degenerate
race and derive their means of sustenance from the
tourists passing through that place.

The hill of Karantel rises near the village, and
here, in a grotto, now used as a chapel, Jesus is said
to have spent the forty days of his fast. There are
various hermits' caverns in the hill, and also a monas-
tery. From this hill flows the copious stream of the
" Sultan's Spring," which is said to have been the
fountain where Elisha, according to the book of
Kings, healed the waters with salt, whereupon the
early Christians called it " Elisha's Spring." There
are sugar mills along its outflow stream, for in early
times the sugar cane was extensively cultivated.
Here was located the ancient Jericho, belonging to the
tribe of Benjamin, enclosed by walls, and captured
by Joshua, after the Israelites crossed the Jordan,
their mighty shout, after the encircling marches,
throwing down the walls. Afterward Jericho was
moved farther southward, where it was located in the
Roman days, while the modern village is to the east-
ward. Herod greatly embellished the Roman town,
and here he died, while from it Jesus began his last
journey to Jerusalem. The modern village was be-
gun by the Crusaders, but it decayed under the later
Turkish rule. The only relic they have is a tower of
the Crusaders' period, which is said to occupy the
site of the House of Zaccheus, and as late as the
fourth century, the sycamore tree into which he

396 THE MEDITERRANEAN

climbed to see Christ was described as still stand-
ing. Excavations made in 1907. have disclosed the
ancient city wall, built of brick on a stone founda-
tion, and about ten feet thick, increasing on the west-
ern side to forty feet thickness. There have also
been uncovered remains of rows of ancient Hebrew
houses, having inscriptions in the old Hebrew char-
acters.

It is not far away to the Jordan, at the ford and
bathing place, where the Israelites crossed the river.
On the route is Gilgal, where were placed the twelve
stones which Joshua ordered taken out of the river
bed. In the Crusaders' time a small church here
enclosed these stones. Near by is the grotto where
John the Baptist dwelt, now the Greek Monastery
of St. John, its first predecessor having been erected
by the Empress Helena. At the ford and bathing
place is supposed to have been the scene of the bap-
tism of Jesus. Here are also the location of the
miraculous division of the waters by the mantle of
Elijah, when he and Elisha passed over; and here
Arprobus, afterward St. Christopher, carried the
youthful Jesus across. Mrs. Mulock Craik thus tells
the sacred story :

" Carry me across ! "

The Syrian heard, rose up, and braced
His huge limbs to the accustomed toil:
" My child, see how the waters boil !

The night-black heavens look angry-faced;
But life is little loss.

JERICHO AND THE DEAD SEA 397

" I'll carry thee with joy,
If needs be, safe as nestling dove,

For o'er this stream I pilgrims bring

In service to one Christ, a King,
Whom I have never seen, yet love."

" I thank thee," said the boy.

Cheerful, Arprobus took
The burden on his shoulders great,

And stepped into the waves once more,
When lo! they, leaping, rise and roar,
And 'neath the little child's light weight
The tottering giant shook.

" Who art thou ? " cried he, wild,

Struggling in middle of the ford;

" Boy as thou look'st, it seems to me
The whole world's load I bear in thee."

" Yet, for the sake of Christ, thy Lord,
Carry me," said the child.

No more Arprobus swerved,
But gained the farther bank, and then
A voice cried, " Hence, Christopheros be !
For, carrying, thou hast carried Me,
The king of angels and of men,
The Master thou hast served."

And in the moonlight blue
The saint saw not the wandering boy,
But Him who walked upon the sea
And o'er the plains of Galilee,
Till, filled with mystic, awful joy,
His dear Lord Christ he knew.

Oh, little is all loss,

And brief the space 'twixt shore and shore
If Thou, Lord Jesus, on us lay
Through the deep waters of our way,

398 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The burden that Christopheros bore —
To carry Thee across.

This ford is believed to be the Bethabara, men-
tioned in the book of John, and there are two mon-
asteries near it. Many pilgrims come here for bath-
ing and baptism, and they have been doing so since
the days of Constantine, the Greeks, particularly, at-
taching great importance to the termination of a pil-
grimage by the bath in Jordan. Much water is
taken from the river to be carried home for baptisms,
and a large traffic is conducted in shipping casks of
Jordan water to Europe and America, under a Turk-
ish concession. After Elijah had passed over this
ford, with Elisha, through the miraculous use of his
mantle, in making a crossing in the river torrent, he
went but a little way beyond the bank, where he was
carried up to Heaven by the fiery chariot and horses
in the whirlwind. " Elijah's Translation " has been
quaintly described by the Rev. Benjamin Colman,
who ministered in Boston two centuries ago :

'Twas at high morn, the day serene and fair,

Mountains of luminous clouds rolled in the air,

When on a sudden from the radiant skies

Superior light flasht in Elisha's eyes.

The Heavens were cleft, and from the Imperial throne

A stream of glory, dazzling splendor, shone;

Beams of ten thousand suns shot round about,

The sun and every blazoned cloud went out;

Bright hosts of angels lined the Heavenly way

To guard the saint up to eternal day;

Then down the steep descent, a chariot bright,

JERICHO AND THE DEAD SEA 399

And steeds of fire swift as the beams of light.
* Winged seraphs ready stood, bowed low to greet
The favorite saint, and hand him to his seat.
Enthroned he sat, tears formed with joys his mien,
Calm his gay soul, and like his face, serene.
His eye, and burning wishes to his God,
Forward he bowed, and on to triumph rode.

The impetuous Jordan flows through the thickets
of thorn and reeds, and over the clayey, salt-covered
soil, to the Arab's " Sea of Lot," which we know best
as the Dead Sea. Here the river is lost in the beauti-
ful blue and placid expanse of waters, which have no
outlet, being all taken off by evaporation. Its bor-
ders support neither animal nor vegetable life, for
there is too much salt. There grows, however, in the
plain of Jericho and some of the neighboring valleys,
the peculiar plant which bears the " Apple of
Sodom." This is a woody shrub, three or four feet
high, bearing a beautiful fruit resembling an apple,
at first tinged yellow and afterward red. When fully
ripened it contains, within the attractive rind, noth-
ing but dry seeds and a dusty powder, the taste be-
ing nauseous beyond description. These are the — •

Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye
But turn to ashes on the lips.

The Greeks and Romans named the Dead Sea the
" Sea of Asphalt," but Mohammed having included
the destruction of Sodom and the rescue of Lot in
the Koran, this gave the Arabic name. The sea lies
low down, in the central depression of Syria, so that

400 THE MEDITERRANEAN

its surface is about 1,300 feet below the Mediter-
ranean, but the water level will vary twenty feet be-
tween the wet and dry seasons, and the greatest depth
is 1,310 feet, thus bringing the bottom 2,600 feet be-
low the Mediterranean. The length is forty-seven
miles, and the greatest breadth about ten miles. The
geologists tell us that this Jordan valley depression
comes from the end of the tertiary period, and that it
was the reservoir for the tremendous rainfall of the
first ice-age, when the Dead Sea level was about 1,400
feet higher than now, or a hundred feet above the
Mediterranean, and the sea then extended as far
northward as the Lake of Tiberias. Precipitous
mountains flank it on both sides, with very little
space between their bases' and the water. The pro-
digious evaporation is shown by the fact that the
average daily amount of water coming in from the
Jordan is about six and one-half millions of tons.
This causes the great impregnation of salt, and
there are huge deposits of rock-salt around the sea,
particularly at the southwestern end. There is
about 26 per cent of solid substances in the water, 7
per cent being chloride of sodium, a large amount of
chloride of magnesium, giving a nauseous bitter taste,
and also chloride of calcium, making it smooth and
oily to the touch. The bather will not sink, but
floats, without exertion, on the surface, and upon
emerging, his body is coated with salt. The scenery
is wild and desolate, the mountains of Moab, above

Place of the Saviour's Baptism, River Jordan.

JERICHO AND THE DEAD SEA 401

the eastern bank, presenting a fine serrated ridge
against the sky, with varying tints as the sunlight
may strike it. The Dead Sea has scarcely any boats
upon its surface. It, with the Jordan valley and the
river, is the personal property of the Turkish sultan,
so that it is leased out as a monopoly, and the ex-
cessive salt quickly destroys the boats of the native
company which controls the navigation.

The land to the eastward, beyond the Dead Sea
and the Jordan, and to the northward of Moab, is
Gilead, the pastoral region inhabited by the
Israelites, and having on its eastern border the
region of the Ammonites, with whom they waged
almost perpetual war. Jephthah and Saul fought
the Ammonites, and David conquered them. From
the Jordan valley, the surface of the land ascends
steeply, and here is the town of Es-Salt, supposed to
be the Eamath Gilead of the book of Kings and the
Mizpah of the Judges. It now has about fifteen
thousand population, mostly Moslems, there being
also Christian missions. Not far away, is the highest
summit of the mountains of Gilead, the superb Jebel
Osha, rising about 3,600 feet, the tomb of Osha, the
Moslem name of the prophet Hosea, being upon the
summit, which gives a magnificent view over a large
part of Palestine. To the northeast is Jerash, the
Roman Gerasa, one of their Arabian strongholds,
that declined, however, under the subsequent Mos-
lem rule, and is now a ruin, having as its principal
VOL. 11—26

402 THE MEDITERRANEAN

feature, the Great Temple of the Sun. Some dis-
tance southward, and east of Es-Salt, is Ammon,
now a station on the Hedjaz railway from Damascus
to Mecca, and chiefly a colony of Circassians. This
was Rabbath Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites,
captured by Joab as described in Samuel. Its cita-
del and remains date from the Roman times. The
whole adjacent region is covered with ruins, and to
the westward is the castle of Ank-el-Emir, the an-
cient white Tyros castle, described by Josephus.
Farther south we get into the land of Moab, coming
to the ruins of Heshbon, which was originally the
capital of the Amorites, and to Madeba, near by, both
these places having been allotted to the tribe of
Reuben, but they came into Moabite possession in
the ninth century B. C. There are Greek, Roman
and also Christian remains. Overlooking Madeba,
from the north, is Mount Nebo, rising 2,643 feet, its
summit giving an admirable view across the Dead
Sea and the Jordan, to Galilee and Mounts Hermon
and Carmel. On this mountain top are a stone
circle and other ruins, and it was from here that
Moses, as recorded in Deuteronomy, obtained his
view of the Promised Land before he died.

It was at Dibon, to the southward of Mount Nebo,
the ancient Dibon of the tribe of Gad, which the
Moabites took, that was found in 1868 the famous
Moabite Stone of King Mesha, now in the Louvre.
At Main, not far away, was the birthplace of Elisha,

JERICHO AND THE DEAD SEA 403

and the whole region is covered with remains of
Moabite towns, the ancestor of the race, Moab, hav-
ing been the son of Lot. This warlike people com-
pelled the Israelites to pay them tribute, and conse-
quently Saul and David fought them (the latter's
great-grandmother being the gentle Ruth, a Moabite
woman) and in turn David compelled Moab to pay
Israel tribute. This payment was refused when
Ahab died, Mesha then being their king, and pro-
tracted wars ensued, Israel being successfully re-
sisted and victorious Moab continuing as an inde-
pendent nation, though disappearing before the
Christian era. El-Karak was the ancient Kir of
Moab, and is now a ruin, covered with poor huts,
which are so numerous that they house over thirty
thousand people. The Moabite Stone, which was in-
scribed in the ninth century B. C., is the earliest
inscription in the Hebrew-Phoenician writing known
to us. It was a piece of black basalt, about three
feet eight inches high, over two feet wide and four-
teen inches thick. The inscription covers thirty-four
lines of very good writing. When the stone was
found, there was a quarrel among the Arabs about
its sale, and it was broken in pieces, of which the
three largest, embracing most of the stone, were se-
cured for the Louvre, as well as a plain copy of the
inscription taken before it was broken. In this in-
scription, Mesha, the Moabite king, relates that
after the death of Ahab his god Chemosh enabled

404 THE MEDITERRANEAN

him to shake off the yoke of Israel, and fortify
various towns against the Israelites. From all these
places in Moab, the land falls off sharply to the deep
valley of the Dead Sea, and then, on the western
shore of the sea, it rises as steeply to the high hills
of Judea, whereon is the Holy City of Jerusalem,
elevated nearly 3,900 feet above that great depres-
sion, and about 2,550 feet above the surface of the
Mediterranean.

THE APPKOACH TO JERUSALEM.

The visitor to Jerusalem, from whatever direction
he may come, whether from Jericho, the Dead Sea,
the Jordan, Arabia, or the westward, toils up an
ascent. Usually he goes from Jaffa, on the Med-
iterranean coast, whence there is a railway of fifty-
four miles, and a caravan route, usually keeping it
close company. An electric road is also projected.
These roads cross the famous plain of Sharon, and
pass Lydda, the tomb of St. George, where, accord-
ing to the Moslem tradition, Mohammed declared
that at the last day Christ would appear at the
city gate and slay the Antichrist. A church now
stands over St. George's tomb, parts of it having
been built by the Crusaders. Beyond is Ramleh, its
chief attraction being the " Tower," a mosque built
by the founder, the Khalif Suleiman, in the eighth
century, though the actual tower is said to have been
the work of the Crusaders. It is here that the

THE APPROACH TO JERUSALEM 405

" forty martyrs " repose in the vaults, both the Mo-
hammedan and the Christian traditions claiming
them. This lofty tower stands out boldly against the
pale blue sky, an attractive landmark, whoever may
have built it or may have been its special martyrs.
From the top, there is a view far across, from the
sea to the mountains, which in the distant south-
east encompass Jerusalem. A little way farther on
is the village of Aker, which was the Philistine
Ekron, named in the book of Kings as one of the
five chief cities of that nation, and near by are the
ruins of Gezer. This was a Canaanite town, pre-
sented to Solomon, and its history goes back to the
most remote antiquity. The excavations of the Pal-
estine Exploration Fund, going on for several years
prior to 1906, have disclosed here eight cities, built
one upon the other, the lowest showing that the in-
habitants then lived in caves, and made their imple-
ments of flints, thus indicating the mode of life as
early as 3,500 B. C. The architecture, pottery,
weapons, rings, seals and jewels found here also
developed an Egyptian residence as early as the
twenty-fifth century B. C., while bronze and iron
appear later, and the Canaanite and Jewish cities
are shown as superposed above the others, in this
most ancient place.

Latrun, a small village, gets its name from the
Latin latroy a robber, and is said to have been the
home of the penitent thief crucified with Jesus;

406 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and close by is Amwas, which was the Emmaus of
the Old Testament, that the Romans afterward
called Nicopolis, the " City of Victory." Here the
Saviour appeared, on the evening of the Resurrec-
tion, to two disciples in the breaking of bread, as
recorded in Luke. The Vale of Sorek, through
which the railway is constructed, gives it a route up
into the mountains, and here was the home of De-
lilah, the Philistine, with whom Samson of the tribe
of Dan, who was twenty years a judge in Israel,
fell in love. She wrought his undoing, and high
on the mountain side, to the eastward of the rail-
way, is shown the cave, which is called Samson's
cavern, where, according to the legend, the strong
man's locks were shorn by the perfidious Delilah,
when she betrayed him to the Philistines, who put
out his eyes and carried him off in captivity. The
village of Abu Ghosh, was the Karyet el Enab, or
" town of grapes " of medieval times, and is said to
have been the Kirjath-Jearim, or " forest town " of
Samuel, to which was taken the Ark of the Covenant,
from out of the possession of the Philistines, into
the house of Abinidab, where it rested for twenty
years. This place is adorned with a beautiful
church, recently restored, that was dedicated to St.
Jeremiah in the fifteenth century. Gradually the
traveller approaches the Holy City, and in front ap-
pear the bright " Dome of the Rock " (the Mosque
of Omar), and the distant tower on the Mount of

THE APPROACH TO JERUSALEM 407

Olives. The city is hidden behind its yellow walls,
but the five-domed Church of the Russians, with their
imposing cluster of buildings, to the northward, out-
side the walls, and many other church towers and
domes appear, the Holy City being entered through
the ancient Jaffa Gate, which the Arabs call the
Bab el Chalil, or " Gate of Hebron." Here go in
the largest concourse of pilgrims and travellers, as
the Jaffa road is the most frequented route to Jeru-
salem.

The approach to Jerusalem from the west,
however, is by no means as impressive as that from
Jericho and the east. Coming from that direction,
the visitor at once opens up the grand view of the
two great ravines, cutting the city off from the sur-
rounding tableland, and sees, in its completest
splendor, the magnificent " Dome of the Rock," and
its beautiful environment. It was from this side
that Jesus first saw Jerusalem, and when he beheld
it upon the site where the Mosque of Omar now
stands was the beautiful Temple of Herod, with
thousands of Israelites attending the Feast of the
Passover. Over beyond was the wooded hillside of
the Mount of Olives, and between them, the deep
Valley of Jehoshaphat, with the brook Kidron
flowing through it. Jesus crossed this vale, ascended
the slope of Mount Moriah, entered Jerusalem by
what afterward was named the " Gate of the Virgin,"
the Bab SiUi Mariam, and soon was walking in the

408 THE MEDITERRANEAN

narrow winding " Street of Woe," the Via Dolorosa,
the first, as it was the last, street of the Holy City
that he trod.

THE HOLY CITY.

Jerusalem is neither a large nor a populous city.
The walls enclosing the older town extend about two
and one half miles around an oblong quadrangle, and
the city and suburbs, embracing over a thousand
acres, may have a hundred thousand inhabitants.
These are mostly Jews, as here and elsewhere in
Palestine the Zionist movement has brought re-
cently an influx of Jewish settlers, who occupy
the lands in fertile sections and are largely settling
the towns. From the Palestine mountains, rising to
the northward, there extends southward a broad
ridge of limestone, surrounded on three sides by pre-
cipitous valleys, and Jerusalem is built on the south-
ern extremity of this ridge. Along the eastern
side, and between it and the Mount of Olives, is the
depression of the brook Kidron, known «as the
Valley of Jehoshaphat, and along the western side,
is another valley, sometimes called Gihon, not so
deep, which turns sharply eastward, around the
southern extremity of the ridge, and then deepens,
as it goes on to join the former valley. This is the
Valley of Hinnom, the Hebrew Gehinnom, and the
Greek Gehenna, and the three valleys thus enclose
the Holy City, around three-fourths of its circum-

THE HOLY CITY 409

ference, finally going off as a deep ravine to the Dead
Sea. The southern promontory of the city is the
" Hill of Evil Counsel," where the priests took coun-
sel against Jesus to destroy him; and the deep gorge
at its base divides it from the " Mount of Offence,"
where Solomon practiced idolatries. Northward
from this deep gorge extends a ravine, within the
city, known as the " Tyropceon Vale," or the " Val-
ley of the Cheesemongers," thus named by Josephus.
On its western side was Mount Zion, the dwelling
place of Jehovah, as described by the prophets Joel
and Micah, and here was the ancient city, the
" Daughter of Zion," so called in Isaiah. The City
and Castle of David were on the southern part of the
eastern hill, having on the higher ground, to the
northward, the Palace and Temple of Solomon, its
religious designation being Mount Moriah. On the
site of the Temple is now the Mosque of Omar, the
present " Dome of the Rock." The wall of the city
is an irregular quadrangle, with eight gates, one of
them, the Golden Gate, having long been closed.
There are two chief streets, leading from opposite
gates, and crossing at right angles, in the middle of
the city, dividing it into four quarters, the Moslems'
quarter being the northeast, the Jews southeast, the
Armenians southwest, and the Christians northwest.
The streets are badly paved and dirty, and outside of
the great religious landmarks, there is little that is
attractive. Quite a large modern suburb, with better

410 THE MEDITERRANEAN

buildings and streets, extends to the northwest of the
old city.

Urusalem, the " City of Salim " meaning the
" City of Peace," is referred to in Egyptian records,
many centuries before Christ, and it was a Jebusite
stronghold, when David captured it for his residence,
and made it the City of David, a thousand years
before the Crucifixion. Solomon built his Temple
and also a palace and fort, and afterward the city
became the capital of the kingdom of Judah, and
had various vicissitudes, Nebuchadnezzar ultimately
carrying the people away captives, the Temple and
most of the city being destroyed. The second Tem-
ple was built in the sixth century B. C., and after-
ward Jerusalem was successively held by Alex-
ander, the Ptolemies, Antiochus, the Maccabees, and
ultimately by the Romans. Under the latter Herod
again rebuilt the Temple and the city, its walls
having seventy-five towers, and at the time of Christ
it was both prosperous and populous. Agrippa
completed the north wall, with ninety towers, the
most imposing being Psephinus, at the northwest
angle, rising 100 feet, and standing on the highest
ground of the city, elevated nearly 2,600 feet. More
trouble came, however; Vespasian despatched an
army to conquer Palestine, and under his son Titus,
A. D. 70, Jerusalem was captured and destroyed, the
Temple burnt, and most of the people slain. Ha-
drian, in the second century, made a sort of revival,

THE HOLY CITY 411

but afterward the city was in obscurity for cen-
turies, under Persian and other rulers, being cap-
tured by the Arabs in the seventh century. Then
came the Crusades, and the Christians got possession
in 1099, but in 1187 Saladin was the conqueror,
and since then it has been a Moslem city, the Turks
being the rulers from 1517. They call it El Kuds,
or "the Holy," and next to Mecca it is their most
sacred city. The tradition is, that in the second
century, a Christian bishop, Marcus, was conse-
crated, and from that time Jerusalem became a
place of pilgrimage. The Empress Helena came on
her pilgrimage, in 335, and found the holy places,
which were marked by chapels, and under her son
Constantine, Christianity dominated the Roman
Empire, he making the cross the standard for the
Roman legions. Thus Jerusalem became the lead-
ing shrine in the world, and its Arab and Turkish
control, with the maltreatment of pilgrims, have
been the causes of some of the greatest wars, among
the most prominent being the Crusades.

The conspicuous edifice, in the Holy City, is the
Mosque of Omar, the renowned " Dome of the
Rock," seen from afar on all approaches. This
building stands upon Mount Moriah, on the eastern
side, in the walled enclosure of about forty acres,
called the Haram esh Sherif, or the " Noble Sanc-
tuary." The " Dome " is a magnificent octagonal
structure, covered with variegated marbles, and sur-

412 THE MEDITERRANEAN

mounted by porcelain tiles, of blue and white, edged
with blue and green. Each side is about sixty-six
feet wide, and it stands upon an elevated platform,
in the highest part of the enclosure, rising a hundred
and fifteen feet, being surmounted by a crescent.
This Dome covers Es Sakhra, the " Holy Rock," a
granitic mass, fifty-eight by forty-four feet, elevated
four to six feet above the pavement, which was the
most sacred place in ancient Jerusalem. There is a
hollow under the rock, into which steps descend, and
according to the Talmud it covers the mouth of an
abyss, in which the waters of the flood were heard
roaring. Here Abraham, the tradition says, was
about to sacrifice Isaac, and Jacob made it his pillow
and anointed the rock, which was then regarded as
the centre of the world. It became the threshing-
floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, which David bought
and made an altar, and this caused Solomon to select
it as the site for the Temple. It was called the
" Stone of the Foundation " — the spot on which the
Ark of the Covenant rested. When Jerusalem was
destroyed, Jeremiah is said to have concealed the
Ark beneath it. Jesus, according to the tradition,
found the great and unspeakable name of God
(Elohim) written here, and then began his miracles.
The Moslems tell us that the rock is held over the
abyss without support, and in the hollow beneath
there are seats shown where Abraham, David, Sol-
omon and Elijah were in the habit of praying; that

Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem.

THE HOLY CITY 413

farther underneath is the " Well of Souls," where
they assemble twice weekly for prayers; and that
below is a river of Paradise and also a gate to hell.
One prayer here, said Mohammed, was better than a
thousand elsewhere, and he made his final prayer
here alongside the rock, and then ascended to
Heaven, on his miraculous steed El Burek. His
head bumped the ceiling, and the impression is
shown, while the rock endeavored to follow him in the
flight upward, but an angel restrained it, and on the
rock is still the mark of the angel's hand. The sa-
cred rock, on this occasion, spoke, and its " tongue "
is over the entrance to the hollow; it also afterward
greeted Omar. When the last day comes, here will
resound the blast of the trumpet, announcing the
judgment; God's throne will then be planted on the
rock, and the Sacred Kaba of Mecca will arise and
come to it at Jerusalem. The banners of Mo-
hammed and Omar are preserved in the Dome, and
also hairs from the prophet's beard, while his foot-
print is shown in a corner, this in medieval times
having been also called the footprint of Christ. At
the northern entrance there is a slab of jasper in the
ground, which was the cover of Solomon's tomb, and
into it Mohammed drove nineteen nails of gold.
One of these falls out at the end of every epoch, and
when all are gone, the end of the world will come.
The devil is said to have been here one day, and de-
stroyed all but three and one-half of the nails, when

414 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the angel Gabriel fortunately happened by and drove
him off.

Such is the sacred rock, which was the " Holy of
Holies " of King Solomon's Temple, the enclosure
of the Haram being the most interesting part of
Jerusalem. The building of the Temple was con-
tinued by Solomon's successors. After its destruc-
tion, in the sixth century B. C., Zerubbabel con-
ducted the exiled Jews back to Jerusalem, and built
the second Temple on the site, which was completed
516 B. C., but was much inferior in size and splen-
dor. This structure was repeatedly plundered and
ultimately destroyed, and Herod, in the year 20 B. C.,
began building the third Temple in elaborate mag-
nificence, but it was never fully completed, and was
burnt A. D. TO. Then Hadrian erected here a tem-
ple to Jupiter, which the earliest Christian pilgrims
found still standing. It fell into decay, and when
Omar came in 636, the place was practically a heap
of rubbish. The " Dome of the Rock " was built
in. the seventh, and restored in the ninth century,
the Crusaders, when they arrived, taking it for Sol-
omon's Temple, so that they built churches in various
parts of Europe on its model. It is approached by
broad flights of steps, and has elegant arcades on
each front, with gates facing the four cardinal
points of the compass, the northern portal being
called the " Gate of Paradise." The interior, about
175 feet in diameter, is divided into three concen-

THE HOLY CITY 415

i

trie circles, by rows of columns, and in the decora-
tions are inscribed various verses of the Koran,
which have reference to Jesus. The Dome rises high
above, and has been repeatedly restored, the latest
revival being in 1830. An ornamental wooden
screen surrounds the Holy Rock. Outside the
eastern gate is a beautiful little structure, the
" Dome of the Chain," which surmounts David's
place of judgment. The Moslems say that a chain
was stretched across this entrance by Solomon, and a
truthful witness could safely grasp it, but if a per-
jurer did so, a link fell off.

The Lord is said, in the Koran, to have brought
Mohammed, in one night, from Mecca, to this, the
" most distant " shrine, and consequently there was
built south of the Holy Rock the Aksa or " most
distant " mosque. It is a splendid structure, re-
peatedly enlarged and decorated by various caliphs,
and the historians describe it as originally a Chris-
tian basilica of Justinian. There is a stone behind
the pulpit, which displays the footprint of Christ,
and on each side a pair of columns stand close
together, of which the legend is, that no one can enter
Heaven unless able to pass between them. Near the
main entrance, are the graves of the murderers of
St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury, while in the
floor of the nave is the Tomb of the Sons of Aaron.
In the eastern wall, enclosing the Haram, is the
famous Bab ed-Dahiriyeh, or " Golden Gate," which

416 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the Arabs have walled up. The pillars that make
the door-posts, facing the east, are said to have been
presented by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Orig-
inally, the Palm Sunday procession, from the Mount
of Olives, entered by this gate, but the Moslems
closed it, because of their tradition that on some
Friday a Christian conqueror will enter it and
capture Jerusalem. The deep valley of Jehosha-
phat is outside, with the Mount of Olives beyond,
and near the gate a column protrudes horizontally
from the wall. The Moslem legend is that at the
Last Judgment all people will assemble in the valley,
and the enclosing hills will recede to provide room
for them. From this column a frail wire rope will
be -stretched to the opposite Mount, with Christ sit-
ting on the wall, and Mohammed on the Mount, as
the judges. All must cross the wire, and the right-
eous, held up by their angels, will easily pass over the
abyss, but the wicked will fall off the wire, and
descend into hell. Northward of the Golden Gate
is the " Mosque of the Throne of Solomon." This
was built over the spot where King Solomon is said
to have been found dead while supposed to be watch-
ing the construction of the Temple. The tradition
tells that in order to conceal his death from the
demons and genii he remained seated, supported by
his staff; and it was not until the worms had gnawed
the staff, and the body fell, that the deceived work-
men found that the king no longer ruled them.

THE HOLY CITY 417

This interesting legend of " The Dead Solomon " in-
spired John Aylmer Dorgan's poem :

King Solomon stood in the House of the Lord,

And the genii silently wrought around,
Toiling and moiling Avithout a word,

Building the Temple without a sound.

Solemn peace was on his brow,

Leaning upon his staff in prayer;
And a breath of wind would come and go,
And stir his robe and beard of snow

And long white hair;
But he heeded not,
Wrapt afar in holy thought.

And now the work was done,

Perfected in every part;

And the demons rejoiced at heart,

And made ready to depart,
But dared not speak to Solomon,
To tell him their task was done,

And fulfilled the desire of his heart.

So around him they stood with eyes of fire,
Each cursing the king in his secret heart, —

Secretly cursing the silent king,

Waiting but till he should say "Depart";

Cursing the king, each evil thing:

But he heeded them not, nor raised his head;

For King Solomon was dead!

Then the body of the king fell down;

For a worm had gnawed his staff in twain ;
He had prayed to the Lord that the house he planned
Might not be left for another hand,

Might not unfinished remain;
So praying, he had died;

But had not prayed in vain.

VOL. 11—27

418 THE MEDITERRANEAN

So the body of the king fell down;
And howling fled the fiends amain;
Bitterly grieved, to be so deceived,

Howling after they fled;
Idly they had borne his chain

And done his hateful tasks, in dread
Of mystic penal pain, —

And King Solomon was dead!

A place of great interest is outside the Haram,
on its western side, and near the southern end of
the enclosure, the " Wailing Place of the Jews."
This is a wall about one hundred and sixty feet long
and sixty feet high, where, during centuries, the
Jews have gone, particularly on Friday afternoons,
to bewail the destruction of the Temple and down-
fall of Jerusalem.

In the city wall, to the northward of the Haram,
is the gate of Bab Sitti Mariam, the " Gate of the
Lady Mary," called also " St. Stephen's Gate," be-
» cause the martyr was taken outside it to be stoned.
This is an elaborate towered gateway, and located
just north of it is the Church of St. Anne, said to
occupy the site of the house of the parents of the
Virgin, Joachim and Anne. A street leads west-
ward from this gate, inside the city, which passes
the modern Franciscan " Chapel of the Scourging."
Here are shown relics of ancient structures, said to
be survivals of the " Castle of Antonia," which was
the Roman Prsetorium, the dwelling of Pontius
Pilate, the procurator who condemned Christ. At

THE HOLY CITY 419

this place begins the most mournful and sacred
route, the winding Via Dolorosa, the " Way of the
Cross." This route is well marked to-day by the
various " Stations of the Cross," but its exact loca-
tion is unknown and doubtful. The repeated
destructions of Jerusalem obliterated most of the
ancient landmarks, and filled the whole of this dis-
trict with rubbish, covering the old streets and
buildings to a depth of thirty to sixty feet. The
site of the " Castle of Antonia " is now occupied
by barracks, and here, where Christ's final mourn-
ful journey began, is the first " Station of the
Cross," where Pilate, after the scourging, gave
him into the hands of his accusers to be crucified,
and bearing the cross he started for Calvary. At
the foot of 4he steps, descending from the barracks,
the cross was laid upon him, and here is the
second Station. These steps, which the Saviour de-
scended, were long aga removed to Rome, being the
" sacred stairs," now in the Church of St. Giovanni,
and an object of most pious veneration.

A little way beyond, the Sisters of Zion have
built an impressive structure, and alongside it the
street is crossed by the Ecce Homo arch. This arch
commemorates Pilate's words " Behold the Man ! "
The northern side arch makes a portion of the choir
of the Church of the Sisters of Zion, which is partly
built into the rock. The church is Eoman work,
and there are traces of a Roman pavement in the

420 THE MEDITERRANEAN

vaults beneath. The street beyond joins the main
highway, coming south from the Damascus Gate,
through the centre of Jerusalem, and here the Via
Dolorosa turns into that highway, there being va-
rious sacred structures at the junction, where Christ
sank under the weight of the cross, this being
marked by a broken column, which is the third
Station. Going south along the Damascus Street,
there is passed a little house known as the " Home
of the Poor Man" (Lazarus), a -building, however,
of the middle ages, and also another of more attrac-
tiveness, which projects over the street, the " Home
of the Rich Man" (Dives). Here is where Christ
is said to have met his mother, and it is the fourth
Station. Farther south, the route leaves the Da-
mascus road, turning westward into the TariJc el
Alam, the " Street of Suffering," where Simon of
Cyrene, who happened by, took up the cross from
Christ, and here is the fifth Station. In one of the
houses alongside, a stone displays a depression, said
to have been made by the Saviour's hand. About
three hundred feet up this street is the sixth Sta-
tion, at the house and tomb of St. Veronica, there
being an ancient crypt beneath. Here, according
to the tradition, that lady wiped the sweat from the
Saviour's brow, and his visage remained imprinted
on her handkerchief. This sacred relic is shown in
several European churches. The street, farther to
the westward, is vaulted over, and here was the

THE HOLY CITY 421

Porta Judiciaria, the ancient city gate, where the
Saviour passed outside the old wall. Here he fell
a second time, and it is the seventh Station. Some
distance outside, a black cross, in the wall of a
Greek monastery, marks the eighth Station, where
Christ addressed the women accompanying him,
and at this place the Via Dolorosa ends. At a
Coptic monastery farther on Christ again sank
under the weight of the cross, which is the ninth
Station. This is at the Golgotha chapels of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where there are four
more Stations, and the fourteenth, and last Station
of the Cross, is in the Holy Sepulchre.

The Bible tells us that Christ was taken outside
the gate to Golgotha, the " place of the skull," for
crucifixion. The visitor approaching Jerusalem,
toward the Jaffa Gate, sees a prominent hill, from a
considerable distance — a rounded hill, skull-shaped,
and having just beneath the massive forehead two
cavernous openings, like eye sockets. It is to the
north of the Jaffa Gate, and from the resemblance
to the skull has been claimed by some authorities
as the site of the Crucifixion. This hill, northwest
of the Damascus Gate, covers the Grotto of Jeremiah,
a series of caverns where the prophet is said to have
written the Lamentations. The chief cave is about
thirty-five feet high, and was formerly inhabited
by Moslem monks and hermits. The top and sides
are in various colors. The site generally accepted

422 THE MEDITERRANEAN

as the place of the Crucifixion and burial is a
smaller eminence within the walls, south of the
Damascus Gate, and northeast of and near to the
Jaffa Gate, being now covered by the spacious Church
of the Holy Sepulchre. This, in Christ's era, was
the place where malefactors were put to death, and is
the greatest of all the holy places in Jerusalem.
" Toward this hill," says Dr. De Witt Talmage, " the
prophets pointed forward; toward this hill the apos-
tles and martyrs pointed backward. To this all
heaven pointed downward; to this with frantic exe-
crations perdition pointed upward. Round it circles
all history, all time, all eternity, and with this scene
painters have covered the mightiest canvases, sculp-
tors have cut the richest marbles, orchestras have
rolled their grandest oratorios, churches have lifted
their greatest doxologies, and heaven has built its
highest thrones." The Church of the Holy Sep-
ulchre now rises above the sacred hill, with its
conspicuous dome and gilded surmounting cross, the
object of pilgrims of all creeds and races, for within
it is not only Calvary, but also the grotto tomb,
where the Saviour was buried, and from which he
rose from the dead.

The earliest historian, Bishop Eusebius, who
lived in the fourth century, records that the exca-
vations, made by the Emperor Constantine, uncov-
ered the sacred tomb of the Saviour, and later writ-
ers describe the Empress Helena's pilgrimage and

THE HOLY CITY 423

discovery here of the true cross. While there has
been much dispute as to the actual localities, this
has heen decided, by the best authorities, as the
place, and in the year 336 there were consecrated
two churches, one the Anastasis, a rotunda covering
the sepulchre, which was surrounded by statues of
the twelve apostles, and the other a basilica, dedi-
cated to the Sign of the Cross, on Mount Calvary.
There are only scant remains of either, for the in-
vading Persians destroyed both in the seventh cen-
tury. New churches followed, and, in the twelfth
century, the Crusaders erected a large structure em-
bracing all the holy places, much of which remains.
There have been various burnings and reconstruc-
tions, and finally the Greeks and Armenians, in
1810, built the present elaborate church, the impos-
ing dome being reconstructed by France and Hussia
in 1868, by permission of the Sultan of Turkey.
This is an immense building, the dome surmounting
the Holy Sepulchre, which is on the western side,
with Calvary toward the east. The main entrance
is from the south, having an outer quadrangle,
usually occupied by beggars and traders. They tell
us that here Abraham really made his sacrifice, for
which so many sites are claimed, and an olive-tree
marks the place where he found the ram which
replaced his son Isaac, so that alongside the quad-
rangle was built the Church of Abraham. There
are chapels all around the enclosure, one of them

424 THE MEDITEERANEAN

being on the spot where Christ is said to have ap-
peared to Mary Magdalen, it being dedicated to
her. A bell-tower, with its upper stories destroyed,
is at the northwest corner of the quadrangle. The
reliefs, over the church portals, represent Christ
raising Lazarus and his entry into Jerusalem. In
the former relief, as the dead Lazarus rises from the
tomb, some of the spectators, in the background, are
depicted as holding their noses.

In the interior of the church, the main portions
are the circular domed structure over the sepulchre,
and to the eastward of it, a large rectangular church,
which is the Greek Cathedral, known as the Cathol-
icon. Upon entering the portals, the south aisle of
the Catholicon is approached, and here is the sacred
" Stone of Unction," surrounded by many lamps
and candlesticks, being the stone on which was laid
the body of Jesus, when anointed by Nicodemus,
while, a short distance to the left, stood the women
who witnessed the ceremony. This stone is a slab of
reddish yellow marble, about seven feet long and
two feet wide, but it is said to have been frequently
changed, and it was possessed by different reli-
gious bodies at various times, all of them having the
privilege of burning their lamps and candles over
and around it. The Rotunda of the Sepulchre is
entered to the westward, the dome borne by eighteen
fine pillars, enclosing the sepulchre. This dome is
sixty-five feet in diameter, and beneath it is the

THE HOLY CITY 425

Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, a marble construc-
tion, built in 1810, and about twenty-six feet long.
This consists of an antechamber, on the eastern side,
provided with stone benches and candelabra, which
opens into the Angel's Chapel, about eleven feet
long, and that in turn opens, through a low door,
into the actual Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, a
small apartment about six feet square. In the
Angel's Chapel there constantly burn fifteen lamps,
which belong to different sects, the Greeks, Roman
Catholics, Armenians and Copts, while a stone set
in marble is in the centre, and is said to be the stone
which covered the mouth of the sepulchre, and was
rolled away by the angel. There are forty-three
lamps hanging from the ceiling of the actual chapel,
about all that can be got in, and reliefs on the wall
represent the Saviour rising from the tomb. At the
tombstone altar mass is said every day. Various
chapels surround the Rotunda, with tombs in the
rock, and here the traditions place the tombs of
Joseph of Arimathea, who owned the sepulchre, and
of Nicodemus. In one place a spot is marked
where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalen ; and in
another, called the " Chapel of the Apparition," he
appeared to his mother. There is also exhibited a
piece of the " Column of the Scourging," in a lat-
ticed niche, the pilgrims pushing a stick through
to touch it, and then kissing the stick. Since the
Crusades, the formal ceremony of receiving and in-

426 THE MEDITERRANEAN

itiating Knights of the Sepulchre has been solem-
nized here, and then are used the original cross, spurs
and sword of the redoubtable Godfrey of Bouillon,
which are kept in the sacristy.

The Catholicon, to the eastward, occupies the tra-
ditional site of the garden of Joseph of Arimathea.
It was originally constructed by the Crusaders, the
nave being the Greek Cathedral. Its chief feature
is the cup, in the western part, which contains a
flattened ball, said to occupy the actual " centre of
the world," so ascertained, we are told, about eight
centuries ago, by the calculation and inspiration of
a number of very wise men. There are two episco-
pal thrones, one for the Patriarch of Antioch, and
the other for the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and among
the prized treasures is a piece of the " True Cross."
In the northeastern corner is a dark chapel, reputed
to have been the prison of Christ and of the two
thieves before the Crucifixion. Three apses are
cut out of the thick eastern wall. One is the
" Chapel of St. Longinus," who was the soldier who
pierced Jesus' side with his spear. The legend is,
that he was blind of one eye, and when some of the
water and the blood spurted into it, his sight was re-
stored, whereupon he repented and became a Chris-
tian. Another apse is the " Chapel of the Parting
of the Raiment," and the third is the " Chapel of the
Derision and the Crowning with Thorns." A long
stairway, to the eastward, leads down to the spacious

THE HOLY CITY 427

" Chapel of St. Helena," where originally stood Con-
stantine's church. This is surmounted by a dome,
supported by four thick reddish columns, that the
old tradition says used to shed tears. Two apses,
at the eastern end, are dedicated respectively to the
Penitent Thief and to St. Helena. A seat, near the
southeast corner, was occupied by the empress-
saint while the cross was being sought, and in this
chapel the " True Cross " is said to have been found
in the southeast corner, where another flight of
steps descends to the " Chapel of the Invention of
the Cross " — the place of actual finding. This
chapel is a cavern about twenty-four feet long and
sixteen feet high, and is adorned with a life-size
bronze statue of St. Helena holding the cross.

On the southern side of the Catholicon, and be-
tween it and the southern quadrangle, is Golgotha,
or Mount Calvary, to which flights of steps ascend,
it being about fifteen feet above the present level
of the church. Here is constructed the " Chapel
of the Raising of the Cross," which forms the twelfth
Station of the Cross, of the Via Dolorosa, a chapel
about forty-two feet long, and having in the eastern
apse an opening, lined with silver, where the cross is
said to have been inserted in the rock, the location
of the crosses of the thieves also being shown, in the
corners of the altar space. Near the Cross of Christ
is the " cleft in the rock " mentioned by St. Matthew,
covered with a brass slide, which, when opened,

428 THE MEDITERRANEAN

shows the cleft about a foot deep, though they tell
visitors it really reaches down to the centre of the
earth. Adjoining is the " Chapel of the Nailing
to the Cross," where Christ is said to have been dis-
robed, and nailed to the cross, the spots being indi-
cated by pieces of marble in the pavement, these
being the tenth and eleventh Stations. The " Altar
of the Stabat " is between the two chapels, and is
the thirteenth Station, where Mary received Christ's
body on the descent from the cross. The fourteenth
and last Station is at the Holy Sepulchre. Under
the " Chapel of the Raising of the Cross " is the
" Chapel of Adam," named from the tradition that
Adam was buried here, and that the blood of Christ,
flowing through the cleft in the rock, fell on his
head, and he was restored to life. The cleft com-
ing down from above is here covered by a small
brass door. In this chapel were originally buried
Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin I, King of Jeru-
salem, but their bones were long ago scattered by the
Arabs. All the chapels and sacred places, in this
great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, are gorgeously
decorated. Gold, silver, precious stones, mosaics,
embroidery, carvings and handicraft of every de-
scription are in profusion, vast sums having been
expended upon their ornamentation by the different
religious communities, whose rivalries are most in-
tense. Armies of pilgrims and tourists go through
the holy places, and the religious fervor culminates

THE HOLY CITY 429

at Easter, when there are elaborate processions and
solemn services. On the eve of Easter all the lamps
are extinguished, and then comes the mysterious
miracle of the " Holy Eire," which it is said comes
down from heaven, and suddenly appears through
a window in the Sepulchre, when a tumult follows,
everyone trying to be first to get his candle lighted,
and this sacred fire being carried home as a prized
possession by the pilgrims.

Across from Mount Moriah, beyond the deep val-
ley of Jehoshaphat, is the Mount of Olives, the Ara-
bian Jebel et Tur, or " Mountain of Light," an elon-
gated ridge, which rises two hundred feet higher, and
thus overlooks Jerusalem. It is closely connected
with the last days of Christ, for here, in full view of
the Temple, he announced to his disciples its coming
destruction ; from here he rode into the city on an
ass, amid the popular jubilation; and after the Last
Supper, he repaired to the Garden of Gethsemane
on its lower slope, was betrayed by Judas, and from
the summit he finally ascended to heaven. Its
highest elevation rises 2,732 feet. Down in the
valley is the " Church of the Tomb of the Virgin,"
a church having existed here since the fifth century,
marking the place where she is said to have been
interred by the Apostles. Here are also the tombs
of Joseph, and of her parents Joachim and
Anne, transferred in the fifteenth century from
the Church of St. Anne at St. Stephen's Gate.

430 THE MEDITERRANEAN

This church is mostly underground, and from it a
passage leads to the " Cavern of the Agony " where
Jesus had the bloody sweat. A little way off is
the Garden of Gethsemane, the name meaning the
" oil press." It is an enclosure of about an acre, an
irregular square, surrounded by a white stone fence
and hedge, a quiet and secluded spot. Within, the
garden is enclosed by an iron fence, and a path runs
all around, between the two fences, having upon it
fourteen small shrines, with pictures above them, to
represent the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The
iron fence encloses eight gnarled and venerable olive
trees, dating from the time of Christ and carefully
preserved by the Franciscan monks. Here a rock
marks the place where Peter, James and John slept,
and were chided by Jesus, and a broken column in-
dicates where Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss.
On the hill slope above, the spot is pointed out where
the Virgin, upon her Assumption, dropped her girdle
into the hands of St. Thomas. The summit of the
Mount belongs to the Russians, who have a church
and other buildings, surrounded by a high wall. In
front of this church a stone marks the scene of the
Ascension, according to the Greek Church belief. A
lofty tower is erected on the topmost level, giving a
magnificent view. A spacious hospital is being con-
structed by the Germans, on the Mount of Olives, the
corner stone having been laid in April, 1907.

The slopes of the valley of the Kidron, below

THE HOLY CITY 431

Gethsemane, are covered with ancient tombs.
Among them is the curious " Tomb of Absalom," a
huge cube hewn out of the rock, surmounted
by a square stone structure topped by a spire,
and rising about fifty feet. The Jews used
to throw stones at it, because of Absalom's
disobedience. It probably never held Absalom's
remains, and seems to have been an old Chris-
tian chapel. Near by is the " Tomb of Jehosh-
aphat," which also was a chapel, and at the time of
the Crusades, said to have been the tomb of St.
James. The Grotto of St. James adjoins, where,
according to a tradition, he was concealed, from the
time of the capture of Jesus until the resurrection.
South of it is hewn out of the rock the monumental
"Pyramid of Zacharias," rising thirty feet.
Farther south is the village of Siloah, the houses
built among the tombs on the steep hillside, and
many of the old rock-tombs being used as dwellings.
Near by is the curious " Fountain of the Virgin,"
an intermittent spring, the water flowing only at in-
tervals, and then drying up, owing to the syphon-
shaped passage which comes from the interior res-
ervoir. The legend is, that the Virgin here washed
the swaddling clothes of the infant Jesus. Farther
down the valley is the famous " Pool of Siloah " or
Siloam, whither was sent to be healed the man who
had been blind from his birth. To it leads a chan-
nel-way from the " Fountain of the Virgin." Be-

432 THE MEDITERRANEAN

low, the valley of Hinnom joins the other, and here
is " Job's Well," 125 feet deep, of excellent water,
and in which the tradition says the " Holy Fire "
was concealed, during the Jewish captivity, being
afterward recovered by Nehemiah. From this well
a path leads steeply up the slope of the " Mount of
Evil Counsel," enclosing the valley to the south-
ward, where, on what is now the barren summit,
Caiaphas, the high priest, is said to have then had a
country house, in which he consulted how to capture
Jesus, and arranged with Judas for the betrayal.
This hill is also full of vaulted tombs, several now
being dwelling places. The largest, used as a Greek
chapel, is the " Apostles' Cave," where they were
concealed during the Crucifixion. Graves and bones
are plenty all about, and here is generally located the
Aceldama, or " Field of Blood," of St. Matthew.

The paths out of the valley of Hinnom, in this
portion, lead upward and northward, entering Je-
rusalem by its southern gate, now known as the
" Gate of Zion," and called by the Moslems the
"Gate of the Prophet David." The rocky hill
slopes here are mostly cemeteries and modern burial
places of the various Christian sects. Part \vay up
are a mass of buildings, originally belonging to the
Franciscans, but now a Moslem possession, known as
the " Prophet David " and said to contain his tomb,
which is held in special Moslem reverence. This
tomb is in the vaults of an old church, which

THE HOLY CITY 433

upon the first floor has the Crenaculuin, or
" Chamber of the Last Supper," a stone in the
northern wall marking the seat of Jesus. Farther
up the hill, and near the City Gate, is an Armenian
monastery, which the legend describes as standing
on the site of the House of Caiaphas. This struc-
ture is an excavated ruin, having steps leading about
fifteen feet down to the marble floor. A circle in
the pavement is shown as the place where Peter
stood, with the soldiers, on the cold night, warming
himself at the little fire they had kindled in a bra-
zier, when he was accused of being a companion of
Jesus, then on trial before the high priest in the
room above, and denied. A stone pillar in the
courtyard is pointed out as where the cock stood
when he crowed. The whole region around Jeru-
salem is filled with Biblical places, and is thus of
deepest interest, but the uncertainties of tradition,
and the varying legends and records at different
times, tend to cast doubts upon many of the tales
told about them. The visitor, therefore, has to make
allowance for the stories, though the visit to the
Holy City is, nevertheless, the greatest feature of
the tour in Palestine. Jerusalem has an almost
complete environment of caverns and rock-tombs,
among the most notable being the " Tombs of the
Kings " on the northern side, extensive chambers,
where very early kings and queens are said to have

been interred. Similar caverns, near by, are known
VOL. 11—28

434 THE MEDITERRANEAN

as the " Tombs of the Judges " and " Tombs of the
Prophets."

BETHLEHEM TO BEEBSHEBA.

An excellent highway, over the limestone hills,
leads from Jerusalem about six miles southward to
Bethlehem. On the way is pointed out one of the
numerous trees where Judas is said to have hanged
himself; and also the cistern which is the traditional
" Well of the Magi," where the " Three Wise Men
from the East " on the way to the birthplace of Jesus
are said to have seen the reflection of their guiding
star, as they stopped to drink. The identity of
this " Star of Bethlehem " has been the subject of
speculation by scientists in all ages. Kepler thought
it was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which
according to astronomical calculation, came about
that time. Proctor and others believed it to be a
comet, and some describe it as a nova or " new star,"
of which several instances are recorded in the period
referred to, some being of the first magnitude.

Ascending the hill of the " Monastery of St.
Elias," about half way to Bethlehem, that city comes
into view, spreading over the plain beyond. Here
Elijah, in his flight to Beersheba, after Jezebel had
threatened him, became wearied, and lying upon a
rock, his body made a depression in it, which is
indicated, with fervor, by the monks. Then we
come to the Tomb of Rachel, a small oblong structure,

BETHLEHEM TO BEERSHEBA 435

surmounted by a dome, a much revered shrine of the
pilgrims of all beliefs. The land hereabout is well
cultivated, so much as the very abundant supply of
rocks and stones will allow, the decomposed lime-
stone producing luxuriant growth. Most of the veg-
etable and fruit supply for Jerusalem is produced
in this district, the orchards and gardens covering
the slopes, and the women carrying their products,
along the road to the city, in huge baskets poised on
their heads. Some of these products are of the best
quality known, particularly the cauliflowers which
reach a size and development beyond anything
grown in other regions. Hewn out of the rock near
Bethlehem is " David's Well," and here is got a
good view of the square yellow stone houses of the
little town of the Nativity, covering a sloping hill-
side, and having the wide-spreading " Church of the
Nativity " as its chief feature. On the plain be-
yond, we are told that the gentle Ruth gleaned,
while on the surrounding hills her great-grandson, the
youthful David, pastured his flocks.

Bethlehem — the Bet Lehem or " place of food,"
— was the home of the family of David, the scene of
Ruth's idyllic life, and the birthplace of Jesus.
The town, built on a long and narrow ridge, is
shaped much like a horseshoe, with " David's Well "
near the northern end, and the low, flat-roofed houses
are huddled closely together, much as they were at
the time of the Nativity. The chief street has a row

436 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of arches on either side, which are the entrances to
the shops, their interiors being usually without win-
dows. A spacious square, near the Church of the
Nativity, is the marketplace, and here is a pastoral
air, as the sheep and goats are brought into town for
sale, much as they were in the days of the infant
Jesus. There are about eight thousand people now
in Bethlehem, almost all being Christians, unlike
the populations of most other Palestine towns.
Jesus was born in a cave, which was the stable of an
inn, or kahn, as it is called here. Over this cave,
and the manger, where the newborn babe was laid,
the Emperor Constantine erected a fine church in
the fourth century, while later, Justinian rebuilt the
walls of the town, and the coming of the numerous
pilgrims, thus attracted, made Bethlehem a flourish-
ing place. When the Crusaders arrived, the Arabs
burnt the town, but it was afterward rebuilt. There
have been frequent quarrels between the Christians
and Moslems, and the latter were expelled in 1831,
so that few now live here. There are, however, un-
seemly conflicts between the Christian sects that
divide the control over the holy places, so that a
Turkish guard is maintained. Pitched battles have
taken place within the " Church of the Nativity,"
and actually around the manger, and it is said that
one of these disputes, about rights within the
church, was the cause of the Crimean War in 1854.
A monk was killed in the church, and two others

BETHLEHEM TO BEERSHEBA 437

wounded in 1893. At nearly every Greek Christ-
mas celebration here, in recent years, there have
been fights, and in January, 1907, one of the latest
conflicts reported, five monks were badly wounded,
the quarrel being about burning candles in the cav-
ern.

The old " Church of the Nativity," which covers
the cavern, looks more like a prison, or fortress, than
a place of worship, and is a spacious structure of
yellowish stone walls, pierced with small windows.
The entrance door is low and narrow, having been
thus built that it might be the more readily de-
fended. The convents of the Greek, Armenian and
Roman churches surround it, and are also fortress
buildings. The church is one of the earliest Chris-
tian constructions, its interior being very simple
and bare of ornamentation. There are a nave,
with double aisles on either side, a broad transept,
and at the extremity an apse. The floor is paved
with large flat stones, and a solid wall separates the
nave from the transept. Pour rows of reddish lime-
stone columns, about twenty feet high, divide the
nave and aisles. Beneath the choir, whence flights
of steps descend, is the " Chapel of the Nativity,"
about forty feet long and twelve feet wide, lighted
by thirty-two pendant lamps. This was the cavern,
and is now paved and walled with marble, its altar
being in a recess on the eastern side. Underneath
the altar, also in a recess, is a small semicircular

438 THE MEDITERRANEAN

shrine, about four feet high, having a silver star let
into the pavement, which reflects the light of fifteen
lamps that hang around it. This is believed to be
upon the spot over which halted the Star that guided
the " Three Wise Men," and the Latin inscription
records " Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin
Mary." Three steps farther descend, from the
recess to the " Chapel of the Manger," the man-
ger being now of marble and containing a wax doll
representing the infant Jesus. The original man-
ger was taken away, in early times, to the Church
of St. Maria Maggiore in Rome, where it is now
shown. To this shrine, for many centuries, the pil-
grims have come, to kneel and kiss the silver star, as
they have poured out their supplications and adora-
tions. The great festivals solemnized in the church
are at Christmas, the Greeks having theirs in Jan-
uary, according to the old calendar. The culminat-
ing ceremony is the solemn procession, which con-
ducts the infant Jesus into the church, and then
into the cavern chapel, where the doll is reverently
laid in the manger. In the crypt is also shown the
tomb of St. Jerome, this great father of the church,
in the fourth century, having dwelt in a cavern
here, where he made the Latin translation of the
Bible, which is known as the Vulgate.

A little way southward from the church is the
" Milk Grotto," another small cave, which the tradi-
tion says was once a refuge for the Holy Family,

BETHLEHEM TO BEERSHEBA 439

when some drops of the Virgin's milk fell upon the
floor. This, during centuries, was believed to have
endowed the grotto with the property of increasing
the milk supply of women and also of animals.
Beyond the eastern verge of the city is the " Field
of the Shepherds," where the angels appeared to the
shepherds, while tending their flocks, announcing
to them the Birth of Christ at Bethlehem. Here
stood a church and monastery for a long period ; and
now the " Grotto of the Shepherds " is in the field,
and has been converted into a subterranean chapel.
Southeast from Bethlehem, its summit being a prom-
inent conical hill, elevated nearly 350 feet, and rising
about 2,500 feet above the sea, is the Frank Moun-
tain, so called because here the Crusaders made their
last stand against the Moslems. The top of this
hill is an artificial construction, and on it are remains
of the enclosing wall and towers of Herod's Castle
of Herodium ; the tradition telling that here he was
buried. There is a superb view from the summit,
extending far over the Dead Sea. To the south-
west, in a deep gorge, is the famous " Cave of
Adullam," where David sought refuge, when he
feigned madness, and gathered around him all the
discontented, before he began his victorious cam-
paign. It is a labyrinthine grotto in the limestone,
stretching nearly a thousand feet into the hillside,
expanding into various chambers, and having long
been used for tombs, and the dwellings of hermits.

440 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Xot far away is the hilltop of Tekoah, rising 2,790
feet, which was the birthplace of the prophet Amos,
and was fortified by Rehoboam. To the westward,
and on yet higher ground, about eight miles south
from Jerusalem, are the " Pools of Solomon," three
large dams, which supply the aqueduct leading to
Jerusalem. They have been made by constructing
walls, at different levels, across a deep and narrow
gorge, and are in good preservation, still supplying
water as they did in the Roman era. A very good
road is constructed past these pools, from Jerusalem,
twenty-three miles southward, through a rather barr
ren country, to Hebron. On the way are passed the
grave of Jonah, which has a mosque built over it,
the tomb of the prophet Gad, and the spring where
St. Philip is said to have baptized the eunuch of
Ethiopia, as recorded in The Acts.

Hebron is a place of the greatest antiquity, the
ancient Kirjeth Arba, the home of Abraham, and
according to the Moslem tradition, Adam died here.
It is at a high elevation, over 3,000 feet, though
located in a valley, and the immediate surroundings
are fertile, abounding in springs. In Genesis we
are told that here came Abraham, and pitched his
tent under the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, and that
when Sarah died he bought from Ephron the Hittite
the double cavern of Machpelah as a burial place,
Isaac and Jacob being also buried here. Joshua de-
stroyed Hebron, but it was restored, and became

BETHLEHEM TO BEERSHEBA 441

David's capital of the kingdom of Judah, for more
than seven years, he causing the murderers of Saul's
son Ishbosheth to be hanged by its pool, while, at the
gates of the town, Joab slew Abner. The rebellious
Absalom made Hebron his headquarters. The Mos-
lems revere it, as one of the most sacred places of
Islam, the Arabian name being El-Kahlil er-rabman,
" the city of Abram, the friend of God." There are
now about sixteen thousand people in and around
the long narrow valley, and their manners and cos-
tumes are said to have changed little since the days
of Abraham. These people make glass, and fashion
their goathides into waterskins. Their two great
relics are the Oak of Mamre and the Cave of Mach-
pelah. The famous old oak is preserved in the gar-
den of the Russian Hospice, a noble but dying tree,
of great age, its trunk having thirty-two feet girth.
It has always been looked upon with the greatest
reverence.

The Cave of Machpelah is surrounded by the
Haram, or sacred enclosure, and is the special
shrine of the pilgrims, as next to the tomb of Mo-
hammed at Mecca, this burial place of Abraham is
the most sacred burial place in Islam. There is
great jealousy of Christian intrusion within the en-
closure, but usually backsheesh will overcome this
for the visitor. The Crusaders built a church over
the cave, which has becojne a mosque, and two
openings in the floor lead down into the cave. Six

442 THE MEDITERRANEAN

cenotaphs appear above the ground, in the church
and court, in pairs, being placed over the tombs of
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob
and Leah. There are green cloth hangings over the
cenotaphs, embroidered in gold and silver, and rich
cashmere and camel's hair shawls are also folded
across them. Here is an alleged tomb of Joseph,
which, however, does not seem to have been known
prior to the fourteenth century, and a footprint of
Mohammed is shown on a stone. The enclosing
walls, of huge blocks, are of the Herodian period.

Westward from Hebron, various caravan routes
go to the ports on the Mediterranean. On the way
is the Moslem village of Beit Jibrin, the " House
of Gabriel," which exists amid the ruins of what
was Rehoboam's stronghold of Moreshah, that be-
came the Roman Baitogabia, and the Crusaders'
Gibelon. Besides the old castle, the most interest-
ing relics are the numerous rock caverns that were
ancient dwelling places throughout a large part of
this end of Palestine, the people thus avoiding the
intense heat. Down by the seashore are the remains
of Ascalon, one of the chief cities of the Philistines,
the birthplace of Herod the Great, and a stronghold
of the Crusaders, who surrounded it with ramparts,
of which there are still some remains. Not far
away is the Philistine city of Esdud, where St.
Philip preached the Gospel, and also Yebna, sup-
posed to have been Goth, another important Philis-

BETHLEHEM TO BEERSHEBA 443

tine city before the Herodian period. Down the
coast is Gaza, which was the southernmost of the
allied Philistine towns, and is now known as
Ghezzeh, being less important than in the ancient
days, though the present population numbers about
forty-eight thousand. It is a port for trade with
the Bedouins, who roam over the deserts in the in-
terior, and is built mainly on a hill slope. Its
great relic is the tomb of Hashim, the grandfather
of Mohammed, now covered by an antique, but re-
cently restored, mosque. On the edge of the mod-
ern town is pointed out the place where Samson
bowed down and overthrew the gateposts of the
Philistines, causing his and their destruction. This
region was anciently the plain of Peleshet, extend-
ing between Mount Carmel and the Egyptian border,
where lived the Pelishtim, who became known as
the Philistines. Whence they came was unknown,
but they entered the plain from the sea, about the
twelfth century B. C., and introduced the pagan
worship of Dagon and Derket, both appearing in
the form of fish. They engaged in almost constant
warfare with the Israelites, and overcame them
until the time of Saul and David. They seem to
have disappeared, as a separate nation, after the
Jewish captivity, but Gaza continued to have a
lucrative trade, especially with Egypt, in the Roman
era, and it was the centre of the pagan worship of
Dagon, until Constantine's reign, when the statues

4:44: THE MEDITERRANEAN

and temples of the idols were destroyed. Philemon,
to whom the Epistle was addressed, was, according
to tradition, the first Bishop of Gaza. The Moslems
have always had great regard for the place, because
Hashim, who traded with it, happened to die here.

To the southward of Gaza rises the hill of Muntar,
or the " watch-tower," giving a noble view over the
beautiful town, with its rich green environment, and
westward across the yellow sand-hills to the Medi-
terranean. Farther down the coast is the level
valley of El-Arish, which the books of Numbers and
Isaiah refer to as the " Eiver of Egypt," while all
around, to the south and southeast, beyond the culti-
vated lands, stretches the sandy desert of southern
Palestine, which the Bible calls the Desert of Judah.
Across this region of many ruins, and a surface of
mostly barren limestone, the traveller rides south-
east to Khirbat Bir-es-Seba, the Beersheba, whose
wells gave waters to the patriarchs, in the southern-
most settlement of Israel. It has been practically
decadent for several centuries. There were seven
wells on the northern slope of a valley, and six
still supply water to the sparse population, which lives
amid the ruins of the ancient town. The desert
stretches over to the Dead Sea, where is Engedi, or
the " goat's spring," in the cliffs high above its shore.
To this wilderness David retired, and it was in a
cave here that he found the sleeping Saul, and
spared his life. To the south rises the hill of

PETRA AND SINAI 445

Masacla, 1,700 feet above the Dead Sea, where a
great fortification was built by Herod, in which,
after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews offered
their final resistance to the Romans, and slew them-
selves and their families rather than surrender.
There still exist some parts of Herod's enclosing
walls and towers, and the summit gives a good view
of the hilly region all about, across the Dead Sea to
the mountains of Moab, and far away south to Jebel
Usdum. This is a ridge rising about 600 feet
above the Dead Sea, its base being composed largely
of crystallized salt in needle rocks and columns, one
of which was traditionally the pillar into which
Lot's wife was transformed, and which Josephus
vouches for, though subsequently it fell into the sea.
Here was located the city of Sodom, whence comes
the name of the hill of Usdum, near the southern
extremity of the Dead Sea. It is a dreary, inhos-
pitable region, over which predatory bands of Bed-
ouins occasionally roam, invoking the spirit of the
departed Sheikh Salih, whom they call their an-
cestor, to aid them, one of the spots said to be his
tomb, and covered with a heap of stones, being not
far away.

PETEA AND SINAI.

The depression of the Ghor, in which are the
river Jordan and the Dead Sea, stretches far south,
although at a somewhat higher level, in the valley of

446 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Arabah, all the way to the northeastern arm of the
Red Sea, the Gulf of Akabah. Upon a terrace in
the high hills enclosing the eastern side of this valley
are the ruins of the ancient capital of Petra in the
land of Edom, originally settled by Esau, which
under the subsequent Roman rule became the cap-
ital of Arabia Petrasa. On the edge of the city
is the Jebel Harun, elevated 4,360 feet, which the
Crusaders believed to be Mount Sinai, and they
built a stronghold on top of the mountain. The
remains are largely of ancient tombs, there being
hewn out of the cliffs over seven hundred and fifty,
many of them very elaborate ; and the place entirely
disappeared from history and all known records,
until it was accidentally rediscovered by some Euro-
peans, who wandered thither over the desert, in the
disguise of Moslem pilgrims, in the early nineteenth
century. These people defeated Pompey 62 B. C.,
but were conquered by Trajan. A temple of Isis
was erected by Hadrian, in the second century; a
theatre and baths were also built and many other
structures, now all in ruins. Upon the Jebel Harun
is the tomb of Aaron, from which comes the name,
the Moslems making pilgrimages to this shrine,
where there are some ruins of an old time monastery.
Ear to the westward, beyond the valley, extends the
Desert of Tih, while to the south, the valley floor is
gradually depressed, until it forms the arm of the
Red Sea at Akabah. This little town is a Turkish

PETRA AND SINAI 447

garrison post, where was the Eloth of the book of
Kings, and while once prosperous, it fell into decay
long ago. The Turks now hold it in a medieval,
rectangular castle, the massive walls having a tower
at each corner. Near by is the Jebel en-Nur, the
" Mountain of Light," where, according to the
Arabian tradition, Moses once conversed with the
Lord.

We have come into the Peninsula of Sinai, the
triangular region, mostly of desert, which projects
into the Red Sea between its two arms, the Gulf of
Akabah on the east, and the Gulf of Suez on the
west. The northern portion is the high plateau of
Tih, mostly of limestone, and the southern part in-
cludes the granite formation of the Mount Sinai
group, rising in three summits, Katherin, Musa and
Serbal. It is an inhospitable desert, with only
sparse bits that can be cultivated, and over it wander
the nomadic Bedouin population, of not over five
thousand all told, known as the Toward or " Men of
the Mountain," who claim a direct descent from the
Sheikh Salih, the early prophet of these wandering
tribes. Their saints are Salih and Moses, and most
of them pay the greater reverence to the former.
Their only paying trade is the escort of pilgrims,
chiefly of the Greek faith, to the shrine on Mount
Sinai. One of Salih's numerous alleged tombs is
in a valley adjoining the northwest base of the moun-
tain, and every May they have a festival at this

448 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tomb, with sacrifices, feasting and games, and then
solemnly climb to the summit of the mountain, and
offer other sacrifices to Moses, smearing the blood
on the door of the mosque. The region is very
ancient, and as yet little known. The Egyptians,
many centuries before the Christian era, had mines
here, and over it, in the Exodus, wandered the
Israelites, when Moses led them for forty years, iii
the search for the Promised Land. Many monks
have lived here, and terrible have been the massacres
perpetrated by the Moslems, at different times, but
the Monastery of St. Catharine has survived them all.
Much that we know of Sinai is due to the researches
of Professor Elinders Petrie, which are still going
on.

A long camel ride, of nine to twelve days, over
the desert, leads from Akabah southwest, through
the wilderness, to the sacred mountain and its
famous monastery, which is located at an elevation
of about 5,000 feet, on the northeastern slope of the
Jebel Musa, the " Hill of Moses," also known as
Horeb, the " Mount of God," of which the summit
rises 7,363 feet. Justinian, in the sixth century,
built a fort here, to protect the monks, and the mon-
astery buildings occupy its site. They are an irreg-
ular collection of structures, enclosed within a high
wall. In the early times the shrewd monks dis-
played an alleged letter of Mohammed for their
protection, but in later years they have been under

PETRA AND SINAI 449

the guardianship of Russia. There are only about
thirty now, but formerly there were four hundred,
and offshoots of this Greek foundation were scat-
tered throughout the East. Their " Church of the
Transfiguration " has an impressive tower, which
dominates the view. At the back of its apse is the
oldest portion, a very early Christian construction,
the " Chapel of the Burning Bush," said to be built
on the spot where God appeared to Moses, and vis-
itors take off their shoes upon entering. A plate of
silver indicates the exact place, and over it is an
altar, within which three constantly burning lamps
are suspended. There is a mosque adjoining, which
was built to accommodate the Moslem pilgrims;
while behind the church is a well, yielding excellent
water, that the monks say was the fountain where
Moses watered the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro,
he marrying Jethro's daughter Zipporah.

From the Monastery, the " Pilgrimage Steps,"
said to number three thousand, and to have been con-
structed by the Empress Helena, mount the steep
slope of the Jebel Musa. On the way up, at 6,900
feet elevation, is the stone chapel of Elijah, having
in the interior the cavern where the prophet, in
fleeing from Jezebel, concealed himself and heard
the Voice of the Lord, as referred to in the book of
Kings. About a thousand of the steps are between
this chapel and the summit, hewn out of granite

which is at first speckled red, and then is gray, green
VOL. 11—29

450 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and yellow. On the way, a hollow in the granite,
alongside the steps, is shown as the footprint of the
camel, ridden by Moses, in ascending the mountain.
At the top are a small Greek chapel and the little
mosque, on the door of which the Bedouins smear
the blood of their • sacrifices. Beneath the mosque
is the grotto, said to be the " cleft of the rock "
within which Moses was put, when the glory of the
Lord passed by. Here, according to the Moslem
tradition, is where Moses remained for forty days
and nights, alone and fasting, while recording the
Ten Commandments. There is a grand view from
the mountain top, all around the compass, of the
many peaks of this granitic wilderness, and also over
the larger portion of the Gulf of Akabah, extending
southward to the distant Tiran Isle, and far away to
the Red Sea, at the Ras Muhammed, the southern
termination of the Sinai peninsula. Toward the
northwest is the Eas es-Safsaf, rising 6,540 feet,
the " Mountain of the Willow," having alongside
its base the venerable willow tree giving the name,
from which they tell us that Moses cut his miraculous
rod. Near it is a refreshing spring, where there is
a dilapidated chapel, dedicated to the " Sacred Girdle
of the Virgin Mary." In the valley, on the western
side of the Jebel Musa, and between it and the
Safsaf, is shown a gorge, where the earth is said to
have swallowed the rebellious company of Korah,
when they defied Moses, there being a chasm in the

PETRA AND SINAI 451

adjacent rock, that is designated as the mould of
the golden calf, which Aaron made, and Moses broke
into pieces, when he descended from Sinai. Also
in this valley, named for Leja, whom the Arabs
describe as a daughter of Jethro, is a mass of rock,
the Hajar Musa, or " Stone of Moses," reputed to
be the Eock of Horeb, whence the spring issued
when the rock was struck by Moses. The tradition
is, that in their protracted wanderings through the
wilderness this rock accompanied the Israelites, and
finally returned to its original location. It is about
twelve feet high, of reddish-brown granite, having
an oblique band of porphyry on the southern side, the
water flowing in jets from holes in this band, one
for each of the twelve tribes. Ten of the holes are
still visible.

Far in the southwest rises the massive granite
summit of Jebel Umm Shomar, elevated 8,448 feet,
and rather nearer are the Jebel Zebir and the Jebel
Katherin, these being the highest three peaks of the
Sinai peninsula. The highest, the Jebel Katherin,
rises 8,536 feet, as the culminating summit of a long
ridge, and is named for the famous St. Catherine of
Alexandria, who was broken on the wheel, in the
year 307, by the Romans, her soul going to heaven
in a vision, while her corpse was carried by angels
to the tomb on the summit of this mountain. She
was followed, in the transmigration, by a bevy
of partridges, and in a gorge, on the northern

452 THE MEDITERRANEAN

slope, is shown the " partridges' well," a spring that
was miraculously called forth for their benefit.
Snow covers this mountain till nearly summer time,
and the top is a small plateau, mostly occupied by
the rude chapel covering the tomb. The uneven
floor is said by the custodians to be due to the im-
pression of the saint's body, which was found here
about five hundred years after her martyrdom, the
rays of light emanating from it attracting attention
and leading to the discovery.

Prominent in the view, to the west from Jebel
Musa, is the broad and serrated pyramidal summit
of Mount Serbal, elevated 6,730 feet, and regarded
by many of the old commentators as really the
Sinai of Scripture. There are five separate peaks
on the top, divided by deep chasms, the highest
being called the " beacon house," and having caverns
in its rocky slopes which were formerly the
homes of hermits. There are stone steps, traces of
old paths, and a circle of stones on a lower terrace,
made by the original denizens. The northern out-
look is over the yellow Desert of Tih, stretching far
away toward Petra, while to the west is the long
Gulf of Suez, with the background beyond of
Egyptian hills, between* it and the valley of the
Mle. At the northwestern base of this mountain
is the " Pearl of Sinai," the Oasis of Firan, the
most fertile region of the Sinai peninsula. This
was originally a lake, and is watered by a brook

PETRA AND SINAI 453

that comes out of a spring, and as suddenly disap-
pears in the rock of El Hesweh. Here was the
Roman town of Pheran, an early seat of Chris-
tianity, and it has many remains of ancient hermits'
cells and monasteries. It was the scene of the battle
of Rephidim, between the Israelites, after they
crossed the Red Sea, and the Amalekites, and on the
summit of a rocky hill, marked by a ruined church,
the Arabs say that Moses stood when Aaron and
Hur held up his hands to secure victory in the battle.
In this oasis are grown the tarfa plants, which in
the spring yield manna. Very small holes are
bored, by an insect, in the fine bark of the twigs,
and from these minute openings exude transparent
drops of juice, which fall and harden on the sand,
this sweet gum, resembling honey, being gathered
and sold to pilgrims.

Everywhere in this region, as well as in other
parts of the peninsula, are found the ancient Sinaitic
inscriptions upon the rocks, and especially to the
northwest of Firan, where is the "Wadi Mokattab,
or " Valley of Inscriptions," generally carved on
blocks of sandstone. These are mostly in Nabatsean
;md Greek characters, but some are Coptic or Arabic.
Originally they were thought to have been made by
the Israelites during their wanderings, but the inves-
tigations have proven them the work of later times,
and generally since the Christian era. They are
both pagan and Christian work. In this district

454 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the visitor finds the famous old mines of Maghara,
originally opened by the Egyptians. Here, in the
twenty-fifth century B. C., King Snefru, the first
sovereign of the fourth Egyptian dynasty, carried
on mining operations, and they were also conducted
by Cheops, the builder of the great pyramid of
Gizeh, and by other kings. There is a pillar, dating
from Rameses II in the thirteenth century B. C.,
and numerous interesting inscriptions, covering a
long period of time. Mafkat was the mineral ob-
tained, a species of malachite that was highly prized.
Red and brown granite and sandstone slopes bound
a deep valley, the mine shafts penetrating the rock
some distance above the valley floor. Remains of
the miners' settlements, their flints and tools, have
been found, and there are also other mines of mafkat
elsewhere in this district. The route which these
ancient workmen took, to get out to the coast of the
Gulf of Suez, crosses a mountain pass, enclosing the
valley, and comes to the Ras Abu Zenimah at the
coast, the tomb of a Moslem saint, and the place be-
lieved to be the " Reedy Sea " of the Bible. Then
the caravan route proceeds northwest near the gulf
coast. It passes the hot saline springs in a high hill,
known as the " Baths of Pharaoh," which reach
157° temperature, where the unfortunate Egyptian
ruler, who harassed the Israelites, is said to be eter-
nally boiled for his sins. The Arabs use the waters
as a cure for rheumatism; and when they bathe,

PETRA AND SINAI 455

present a cake, or other peace offering, to Pharaoh's
perturbed spirit. Most of the region beyond is a
desert, through which goes the Derb Farun, or the
" Road of Pharaoh," toward Suez. In this desert,
rising on a sand hill, is the bitter spring of Marah,
mentioned in Exodus. The little oasis of Ayun
Musa, the " Springs of Moses," is reached, and then
the monotonous desert route ends at the harbor of
Suez.

The Gulf of Suez, the northwest arm of the Red
Sea, was anciently called the Heroopolite Gulf, and
is about one hundred and eighty miles long, extend-
ing between the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt, its
average breadth being twenty miles. A short dis-
tance below the head of the gulf, at Suez, it ab-
ruptly narrows to about one-fourth of this width, and
here is the place where the Israelites crossed over,
in their Exodus from Egypt. They had lived as
bondmen, in the land of Goshen, in northeastern
Egypt, between the Nile delta and the border of
Syria, at the Suez Isthmus. Rameses II, who was
the greatest builder among the Pharaohs, and was a
relentless taskmaster, had used them most harshly
in his operations, and they rebelled in the reign of
his successor, Meneptah, and then, to escape the
bondage, made the exodus. The route taken in
their flight has been carefully explored, and it is
demonstrated that Moses led them from Goshen
southward to Lake Timsah and the Eed Sea border,

456 THE MEDITEKRANEAN

where the Gulf of Suez narrows, and thus brought
them to a restricted triangular plain, bounded on the
north by a range of cliffs, and on the south by the
expansion of the gulf waters. The Egyptians were
following closely upon the fugitives, who were thus
hemmed in between the cliffs and the water, and
had no apparent way of escape. At this place there
is still a shallow, stretching from shore to shore
across the sea, which at low tide is almost fordable.
We are told in Exodus: " The Lord caused the sea to
go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made
the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."
Then the east wind piled up the waters toward the
head of the gulf, leaving the shallow dry. The
crossing was apparently made during the daylight,
but by nightfall the Egyptians came up, and seeing
the passage still dry, attempted to cross in pursuit,
and, the wind changing, the waters returned, the tide
rose, their chariot wheels were clogged in the quick-
sands, and they were engulfed.

THE SUEZ CANAL.

Suez is a low-lying town, on the border of a sandy
plain, where the rain seldom falls. It was formerly
a small, ill-built, miserable-looking village, but the
construction of a railway to Cairo, and of the Suez
Canal, revived it, and after the opening of canal nav-
igation, in November, 1869, the population, which
had previously been barely fifteen hundred, . ex-

THE SUEZ CANAL 457

panded, and now approximates twenty thousand.
The old town was walled on the three landward sides,
but open toward the sea, the people then being
mostly fishermen. It occupies the site of ancient
Clysma, which became the Arabic Kolzum. It
seems to have had some prosperity in the earlier
ages, when a canal connected it with the Nile, but
this canal was destroyed in the eighth century, when
the place fell into decay. The railroad terminals,
dry docks and quays, where the present Suez Canal
conies out, are about two miles south of the older
town, at Port Ibrahim, the upper portions of the
gulf being shallow at low water, a stone pier carry-
ing the railway over. A chalet of the khedive, on
higher ground, overlooks the town and harbor. A
canal, bringing fresh water from the Nile, is con-
structed alongside the ship canal, and the irrigation
provided by this has wrought a great change in
recent years in the desert around Suez, so that the
entire appearance of the country is altered. The
town is now full of storehouses and fine residences
of the merchants, and it has a handsome Greek
church.

The Isthmus of Suez, at its narrowest part, from
the head of the Gulf of Suez to the Gulf of Pelusium,
at Tineh, on the Mediterranean, is about seventy-two
miles wide. The canal, which converted Africa
into an island, is nearly one hundred miles long, be-
ing constructed from Suez to Port Said, because

458 THE MEDITERRANEAN

there was deeper water there than at Tineh to the
eastward. This is not the first work of the kind that
was constructed in this region, for a canal from the
Nile to the Red Sea is known to have existed from
the sixth century B. C. to the eighth century of the
present era, when it became clogged from neglect,
and was destroyed. Napoleon also projected, when
in Egypt, a ship canal across the isthmus, and since
then various projects were talked about, but it was
not until 1854 that Said Pasha, then the Egyptian
khedive, granted to Ferdinand de Lesseps, the
French engineer, a concession for the present canal.
He formed the French Canal Company in 1858,
about half the shares being taken in France, one-
quarter in Egypt, and a small interest in England,
where the project was strongly opposed on account
of the engineering obstacles. The khedive subse-
quently obtained a larger interest, by purchase of
shares, and in November, 1875, Disraeli, the British
premier, made the master stroke of buying the
khedive's ownership, which gave control of the canal
to England, securing 176,602 shares for $20,000,000,
the whole capital being 400,000 shares. This was
considered among the most powerful auxiliaries ob-
tained by England in the mastery of the Mediter-
ranean and of the route to India.

The work of constructing the Suez Canal began
April 25, 1859, the estimate then being that it could
be completed by 1864 at a cost of about $30,000,000.

THE SUEZ CANAL 459

Large numbers of workmen were employed, of all the
native races in and near the isthmus, at one time
numbering eighty thousand men. A service canal
twenty feet wide was first excavated for part of the
distance, and also the fresh water canal, from the
Nile at Bulak near Cairo, as the Suez Isthmus was
then destitute of water. This canal reaches the
main ship canal at Ismailia nearly midway between
the two seas. The ship canal is about three-fourths
an excavated canal, the remainder of the route going
through natural lakes lying in the hollows. The
fresh water canal follows the line of the ancient
Egyptian canal from the Nile, and is about forty
feet wide and nine feet deep, being used for navi-
gation, as well as irrigation. It goes south to Suez,
while pipes also convey the fresh water north to Port
Said. The ship canal varies in dimensions at dif-
ferent parts, being narrowest where cuttings are
made. In one place the cutting is ninety feet deep,
through sandstone rocks. The original depth was
twenty-six feet, and it has since been deepened to
about thirty-two feet, while it is being widened to
over two hundred feet from Suez to the Bitter Lakes,
and about one hundred feet thence northward to
Port Said. The surface of the isthmus, where
crossed by the canal, has a general elevation of only
five to eight feet above the adjoining seas, but several
ridges are higher, and extensive depressions also
contain lakes and had salt marshes which the canal

460 THE MEDITERRANEAN

waters have changed into lakes. Excepting where
it has been made fertile by irrigation, the region is
a barren, sandy desert, the soil being mostly sand
and gravel, underlaid with sandstones and varieties
of limestone, with fossil remains and shells. It is
probable that the whole isthmus was once under
water, the two seas then being here connected. They
are now very nearly at the same surface level, the
Red Sea being but six inches higher on the average
than the Mediterranean. Much of the canal is em-
banked and partly encased with stone. Since its
construction, the climate has undergone considerable
amelioration, the temperature having become lower
in summer and higher in winter, this change being
attributed to the infiltration of water, and to the
vegetation which has thus sprung up along the banks
and been established by irrigation.

The terminal works at the canal entrance, near
Suez, include two huge dry docks and a protective
mole, nearly twenty-six hundred feet long, making
the harbor of Port Ibrahim. From here, the canal,
in a generally northerly course, goes seventeen miles
through a sandy desert to the Bitter Lakes, thus
named from their brackish waters. These were
about dried up, but the canal availing of their beds
for its channel, they have since been filled with sea
water. The canal goes for twenty miles through the
Little and Great Bitter Lakes, and then for about
nine miles further through rock cuttings much of

THE SUEZ CANAL 461

the way, to Lake Timsah, its route following closely
that of the ancient Egyptian canal. Timsah, for-
merly dried up, but now filled with sea water, makes
an excellent anchorage, and on its western shore,
forty-four miles from Suez, is the port of Ismailia,
named for Ismail Pasha. Here the fresh water
canal comes over from the Nile, and the levels of
the two canals being different, they are joined by
locks. This place has grown entirely from the canal
traffic, and it has railway connections with Cairo and
Alexandria. Timsah is the Crocodile Lake, but there
are no crocodiles in it, though their fossil teeth are
found in neighboring rocks. The khedive has a
decaying summer house on the shore, now used by the
canal officials, and the Jebel Maryam rises in the dis-
tance, being named for the prophetess Miriam, the
sister of Moses. The canal has an almost straight
northern course, from Timsah to Port Said, and just
north of the lake is the highest surface and heaviest
cutting on the line, the banks rising seventy to ninety
feet high. The Ballah Lakes are nine miles from
Timsah, and it goes for eight miles through them, by
a channel that has been dredged and embanked. A
three mile sand strip is then crossed to the spacious
Lake Menzaleh, through which the route is con-
structed for about twenty-four miles. This lagoon
spreads far westward toward the Nile delta, and
northward to the Mediterranean, the canal conducted
along its eastern margin being confined between

462 THE MEDITERRANEAN

embankments, and the lake waters not admitted, the
lake depth varying from twenty-five to thirty feet.
Just north of this lagoon is the terminal harbor at
Port Said. There are widened basins at intervals
along the canal route to allow vessels to pass, and
a speed of five to six knots an hour is permitted, ex-
cepting in the Bitter Lakes, where steamers may
move at full speed.

Port Said is upon the low-lying easternmost point
of an island, between Lake Menzaleh and the Med-
iterranean, one hundred and ten miles north-north-
east of Cairo, a modern town spreading around a
pleasant square, with regularly laid out streets, and
mostly wooden houses, built on the sands and the
mud excavated from the canal. It was named for
Said Pasha, the viceroy, and has about fifty thou-
sand people. The harbor embraces nearly a square
mile, contained between two concrete moles, respec-
tively 5,300 feet and 7,400 feet long, the latter on
the western side, and slanting considerably toward
the eastern one, thus giving full protection from the
sea waves for the canal entrance, which is marked
by a colossal statue of De Lesseps and a fountain
and statue of Queen Victoria. A great electric light
is .placed in a tower, 173 feet high, and can be seen
twenty miles at sea. The Suez Canal cost about
$100,000,000, and is very expensive to maintain,
there being $1,400,000 expended annually for dredg-
ing, etc. Powerful dredges are constantly at work,

THE SUEZ CANAL 463

lifting out the sand that silts into the channel. This
process has widened, deepened and also straightened
its course. Shipping began freely passing through
in 1870, and during that year 486 ships went
through, with 654,915 tonnage and paying $1,032,-
000 tolls. The first vessel passing was the
ship Brazilian, of 1,809 tons, which started through
November 27, 1869, and the opening of the canal
reduced the length of her voyage from England to
the Indies to about 7,500 miles, the route around
Africa being 11,600 miles. Since March, 1887,
traffic has been conducted at night, the shipping
taking aboard electric lighting apparatus for the pur-
pose, and a vessel, under normal conditions, passing
in twenty hours, while the usual daylight course is
accomplished in thirteen hours. In 1905, 4,116
vessels passed through, having 13,134,105 tonnage,
and paying $23,461,639 tolls, and in that year the
canal expenditures were $8,196,836. In 1907,
4,267 vessels, with 14,728,434 tonnage went through,
and in 1908, 3,727 vessels with 11,357,179 tonnage.
There is a toll charged of 7% francs for each ton,
and ten francs for each passenger. In some cases
the tolls, pilotage and other charges, for a
very large steamer, will reach $20,000. The most
expensive passage made by any vessel was by the
United States Drydock Dewey, towed through on
the way to the Philippines, the cost being about
$23,000, of which about $2,900 was paid for damage

464 THE MEDITERRANEAN

done by the big drydock bumping into and destroy-
ing beacons and buoys. She was almost as wide
as the narrower portions of the canal, and delayed
traffic all one night, owing to high winds requiring
her to stop and rest against the leeward bank. When
the American fleet of battleships, coming home from
their tour around the world, passed through the canal
early in January, 1909, the tolls were $133,000. The
success of the Suez Canal has greatly inspired the
work of constructing the more expensive and difficult
Panama Canal through the American Continent.

Throughout this region of sand and heat at Suez,
and around the head of the Red Sea, there is a
mournful desolation, excepting where the modern
irrigation systems have produced some plant life and
luxuriant vegetation. Its great memory is of the
sufferings and wanderings of the children, of Israel,
and of the ten plagues which the Lord inflicted upon
the Egyptians, to constrain Pharaoh to let the
Israelites depart out of the land of bondage, ending
with the destruction of the first born. One of the
most terrible of these was the seventh plague, the
thunder and hail and fire, which afflicted all Egypt,
excepting the land of Goshen, the home of the
Israelites. We are told in Exodus that the Lord
said to Moses: "Stretch forth thine hand toward
Heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of
Egypt, upon man and upon beast, and upon every
herb of the field throughout the land of Egypt.

THE SUEZ CANAL 465

And Moses stretched forth his rod toward Heaven:
and the Lord sent thunder and hail ; and the fire ran
along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail
upon the land of Egypt." So grievous was the
affliction that Pharaoh relented, sending for Moses
and Aaron, declaring he had sinned and would let
the people go, and asking them to entreat the Lord
to stay the plague. This Moses did, but when the
rain and hail and thunder had ceased, his heart was
again hardened, and he would not let the children
of Israel depart. This terrible plague is admirably
described by George Croly, the Irish author and poet.
It finally subdued the stubborn Pharaoh, and then —

Humbled before the prophet's knee,
He groaned, "Be injured Israel free!"
To Heaven the sage upraised his hand:
Back rolled the deluge from the land;
Back to its caverns sank the gale;
Fled from the moon the vapors pale;
Broad burnt again the joyous sun:
The hour of wrath and death was done.

VOL. 11—30

THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

XIV
THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

The River Nile — Its Sources — Its Long Valley — The Delta —
The Inundations — The Mouths — Land of Goshen — Damietta
— Sais — Rosetta — Alexandria — Aboukir — Queen Cleopatra —
The Pharaohs and Their Gods — Menes — Ptah — Ammon-Ra
— Osiris — Isis — Horus — The Sacred Bull Apis — Zeser —
Snefru — Cheops, Chephren and Menkaura — Usertesen — Ame-
nemhat — Aahmes — Amenhotep — Thothmes — Queen Hatasu —
Sethos — Rameses — Meneptah — Sesostris — the Hebrew Ex-
odus— Cambyses Nectanebo — Alexander — the Ptolemies —
Amru — Mehemet Ali — Johar — Cairo — Helouan — Shoobra —
Heliopolis — the Barrage — the Pyramids — the Sphynx.

THE RIVER NILE.

I am a river flowing from God's sea

Through devious ways. He mapped my course for me;

I cannot change it; mine alone the toil

To keep the waters free from grime and soil.

The winding river ends where it began;

And when my life has compassed its brief span

I must return to that mysterious source.

So let me gather daily on my course

The perfume from the blossoms as I pass,

Balm from the pines and healing from the grass,

And carry down my current as I go

Not common stones, but precious gems to show;

And tears — the holy water from sad eyes —

Back to God's sea, from which all rivers rise;

Let me convey — not blood from wounded hearts,

469

470 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Nor poison which the upas-tree imparts —

When over flowery vales I leap with joy,

Let me not devastate them, nor destroy,

But rather leave them fairer to the sight.

Mine be the lot to comfort and delight,

And if down awful chasms I needs must leap,

Let me not murmur at my lot, but sweep

On bravely to the end without one fear,

Knowing that He who planned my ways stands near.

Love sent me forth, to Love I go again,

For Love is all and over all. Amen!

Thus sings Ella Wheeler Wilcox of a great river.
It has long been realized that the river Nile is Egypt.
It not only waters all the crop-producing soil, which
makes habitable Egypt, but that soil has been brought
down by the river during successive ages from in-
terior Africa, and is annually fertilized by fresh
deposits from the regular freshets. The Egypt
spreading over about 400,000 square miles, on the
map, is mostly a barren desert, the inhabited
region being condensed into barely 13,000 square
miles of the river valley and delta. The control of
Egypt is therefore merged in the successful control of
the Nile, that its valuable sediment may be fully
utilized and none wasted in the sea, and this control
is held by England. Egypt is nominally tributary
to the Turkish sultan, but his domination is very
shadowy, through the Khedive Abbas Hilmi, succeed-
ing in 1892, who is practically but a figure-head,
owing to the intervention of England, sought in 1882,
for subduing Arabi Pasha's rebellion. He was the

Fishing Boats on a Branch of the Nile.

THE RIVER NILE 471

war minister of the then khedive, Mohammed
Tewfik, father of Abbas, and led the army in mutiny,
and an uprising against the Christians. The
British fleet bombarded Alexandria, in the summer
of 1882, and on September 13th their troops de-
feated Arabi in the battle of Tel el Kebir,
occupying Cairo and capturing Arabi, who was sent
an exile to Ceylon. This began the British occupa-
tion and control of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula,
which continued under the admirable management of
Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer, who retired in 1907,
after nearly fifty years' service for his country, in
various positions, more than half of it being devoted
to Egyptian rehabilitation, where he held the posts of
British agent and consul general. The Egyptian
population is about 11,200,000, most of whom are
engaged in agriculture.

The American traveller and author, Edwin James
Cattell, significantly describes Egypt as " a flat-
headed green snake crawling along a sandy road."
The broad and low-lying Kile delta is the head of this
serpent, fronting the Mediterranean for over a hun-
dred and fifty miles, and narrowing into the neck, at
Cairo, about a hundred and thirty miles inland.
Thence the serpent's body stretches southward eight
hundred and fifty miles to Wady Haifa, the southern
border of Egypt and Nubia, the Kile valley averaging
ten miles width. The great delta is Lower Egypt and
the long valley Upper Egypt. The Kile was the

472 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Hope or Aur-Aa of the ancient Egyptians, meaning
the " Great River," and the Sihar of the Hebrews.
It is about four thousand miles long, draining a basin
of nearly 1,100,000 square miles, extending through
thirty-five degrees of latitude, and the distance from
the source to the sea, in a direct line, is 2,450 miles.
The White Nile, or, in the Arabic, the Bahr-el-Abiad,
flows from the lakes of equatorial Africa, and is
joined at Khartoum by the Blue Nile, or Bahr-el-
Azrdk, coming out of the Abyssinian mountains.
Egypt was called Aiguptos by the Greeks, Misraim
by the Hebrews, and Misr by the Arabs, and in the
Egyptian hieroglyphics is Kemi, or the " black
land." The Nile, in times of overflow, is a reddish
brown color, and the ordinary current flows about
three miles an hour.

The famous Victoria Nyanza — the " Great
Water," next to Lake Superior the largest fresh
water lake in the world, is the source of the Nile.
It is directly under the equator, at 3,900 feet eleva-
tion, and covers 27,000 square miles. The parallel
of 1° south latitude, crossing it, is the dividing line
between German East Africa, to the southward, and
British East Africa, to the northward. First discov-
ered by Speke, in 1858, a long period elapsed before
it was known that the waters went out to the Nile.
There are several feeders to this great lake, the larg-
est being the Kagera, formed by three tributaries, of
which the chief is the Nyavarango, rising about 2°

THE RIVER NILE 473

30' south latitude, at an altitude of 7,000 feet. The
Kagera flows into Victoria !Nyanza, through a
spacious delta. The other Xyanzas are at a lower
level than Victoria; Albert Nyanza, about eighty
miles northwest, being at 2,500 feet elevation, and
covering 2,000 square miles, and Albert Edward
Kyanza, just south of the equator, extending over
1,500 square miles at 3,307 feet elevation, and drain-
ing into Albert Isyanza, through Samliki River, about
130 miles long.

The great river flowing out of the Victoria
Kyanza, before it was known to be the Nile, was
called the Kari or Somerset River. It expands into
Lake Ibrahim Pasha, goes down successive falls,
and enters the Albert Kyanza at Magungo. The
exit stream descends a series of cataracts and comes
to Gondokoro at 5° !N\, this portion of the river hav-
ing been first explored by General Gordon in 1876.
At 9° X. it receives its most important tributary,
on the west side, the Bahr-el-Ghezal, then turns east
for about one hundred miles, receives the Sobat,
coming from the southeast, and flows north to Khar-
toum, being there joined by the Blue Nile, on its
eastern side. The united Nile then takes its course
toward the northeast, and receives its last tributary,
the Atbara, from the Abyssinian frontier. It flows
northward through the desert, forms various islands,
goes down rapids, and descends the second or Great
Cataract at Batn-el-Hajar, the " Glen of Rocks/'

474 THE MEDITERRANEAN

entering Egypt proper at Philae, the Pi-lakh or
" limit " of the Egyptians, where the river flows
down the first or lowest cataract, at Syene or
Assouan, 24° 5' N. From the foot of this cataract,
the Nile has its course northward through Egypt,
unbroken by falls or rapids, and without a tributary
of any kind, until it reaches the Mediterranean. It
is a single stream to Batn-el-Bakara, the ancient
Carcasorum, at the head of the delta, just below
Cairo, in latitude 30° 15' ~N. From the cataracts
northward, the river, with a general breadth of
about a half-mile, runs for six hundred miles
through a valley bounded by hills varying in height
from 300 to 1,200 feet. These hills disappear a hun-
dred miles from the sea, and the river enters an ex-
tensive and perfectly level alluvial plain, where at
twelve miles below and north of Cairo it separates
into two great streams which continually diverge to-
ward the northwest and northeast, until they reach
the sea at 31° 35' N"., by mouths that are eighty miles
apart, the eastern branch at Dumyat (Damietta), and
the western at Rashid (Rosetta). This is the great
plain of Lower Egypt, a rich, triangular and per-
fectly flat delta, fronting over one hundred and fifty
miles upon the Mediterranean, and extending inland
about ninety miles. The alluvial deposits of the Xile
cover all this plain to a' depth of thirty or forty
feet, and make unsurpassed fertility, while the sea
front is a series of extensive lagoons.

THE RIVER NILE 475

So dependent were the ancient Egyptians upon the
Nile that it can readily be understood how they
gave the river divine honors. It was represented
by a figure, having a beard and woman's breasts,
with a blue skin. At Nilopolis there was a temple
dedicated to this god, and the principal festival was
called Niloa. In the ancient Greek and Roman art
the Nile was depicted as a reclining river god, around
whom sixteen children were playing, in allegorical
representation of the height in cubits reached by the
annual inundation. Rain rarely falls in the Kile
valley, between 18° and 30' N., and only very scantily
lower down, so that the river gets its water supply
entirely from the elevated lake and mountain regions
which are its sources. In Egypt the current begins
increasing in volume in June, rises steadily and
reaches its greatest height in October, and then
gradually subsides, the ordinary rise at Cairo being
twenty-five feet. During the period of flood the
greater portion of the long valley and of the delta,
is inundated. In early times the volume of the
river was larger, and the floods rose much higher,
as shown by the alluvial deposits, in places no
longer reached by even the highest inundations.
Four thousand years ago, as attested by the old
inscriptions, the average rise of the flood was twenty-
three feet higher than now. At the same time, the
annual deposits of the inundations continually raise
the surface level of the entire surrounding valley.

476 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The great dams constructed in the river, at Assouan,
Assiout, and below Cairo, now control the Nile,
making it a reservoir, and regulating the discharge of
the waters, so that extensive tracts yield two crops
a year instead of one, and large waste districts have
been brought under tillage, greatly increasing the
growth of sugar, cotton and other products. The
estimate is that the Nile supplies every year a
thousand millions of cubic metres of water, and the
additional fertility has increased Egypt's foreign
trade to $280,000,000 a year, including over $130,-
000,000 worth of cotton seed and raw cotton. The
cotton crop has exceeded 700,000,000 pounds in
one year, and for 1909-10 was estimated at 545,-
000,000 pounds. It includes the famous yellow-
tinted, long-fibre staple, the choicest of all cottons,
which, from its natural color, imparts the prized
tawny tint to hosiery and underwear. This cotton
is a cash article, and Alexandria is the cotton-
financing centre of Egypt. The delta is the great
cotton, rice, grain and sugar producing region, the
large barrage, or dam, below Cairo, regulating the
distribution of the Nile waters throughout the vast
and fertile plain, while the newer dam at Assouan
is bringing the upper Egypt valley under similar
beneficent crop conditions.

When the Nile anciently brought down so much
greater volume of water than now, instead of two
river mouths in the delta there were seven, and from

THE RIVER NILE 477

this circumstance the river was called Septemgem-
inus. The easternmost of these mouths was the
Pelusiac, which emptied into the bay of Pelusiam,
east of Port Said, at the narrowest part of the isthmus
of Suez. It was here that was located the great
Serbonian Bog, and in this region Cambyses de-
feated the Egyptians, and Pompey was killed, at
the little hill known as Mount Casius. To the west-
ward is the partly dried up Lake Menzaleh, where
in the days of the full-flowing Nile two branches
emptied, the Tanitic and Mendesian. These three
branches long ago ceased flowing, and near the
western shore of Lake Menzaleh comes out the
present Damietta branch, the ancient Phathmetic
mouth. This was in the land of Goshen, of the
Israelites, where was ancient Tanis or Zoon, the old
capital of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, and after-
ward a stronghold of Rameses and his survivors,
who oppressed the Jews and caused their exodus
across the Red Sea into Sinai. There are various
ruins in this district. The Burlas lagoon is farther
west, and here emptied the Sebeunytic mouth, long
since closed. The Bolbitine is now the Rosetta
branch, and still farther westward was the Canopic,
emptying into Aboukir Bay.

A half dozen miles up the present eastern branch
of the - Nile is Damietta, which anciently was
Tameathis, and is now an old and decayed town
of thirty thousand population, about a hundred mile?

4:78 THE MEDITERRANEAN

northeast of Cairo, with, however, some fine dwell-
ings of the merchants, built on terraces near the
river, and a few attractive mosques and bazaars.
Lake Menzaleh gives it a supply of fish, that are
idried and salted for trade with the interior, but the
bar at the mouth of the river renders the harbor
inaccessible to large vessels. It also has rice and
cotton mills, and the story is that the name of
" dimity " is derived from this town. The ancient
city was nearer the sea, and it rose to importance
under the Saracen rule, while the Crusaders, regard-
ing it as the great Egyptian stronghold on the
Mediterranean, made repeated attacks, and in one
of the sieges it was captured, in 1249, by the French
king Louis IX. Unfortunately, however, the
victorious Louis was soon afterward taken by the
Arabs, and could only purchase his freedom, by
restoring the city. Then, because of its exposed
position, the Egyptian sultan destroyed the old city,
and established the present Damietta, farther inland,
blocking up the mouth of the Nile, so that enemies
could not approach from the sea. Far away, in
all directions, spread the fertile lowlands of the
delta, intersected by irrigation canals, and produc-
ing bountiful crops, so prolific indeed that the lands
are valued at $500 or more per acre. This was one
of the most populous districts of ancient Egypt, and
still is well peopled. In the interior is the cotton
centre, Mansourah, in an unhealthy situation, having

THE RIVER NILE 479

thirty-six thousand population; also Samanbord,
near the ancient mounds of Bahbeyt, where there
was a Temple of Isis; and Tantah with about sixty
thousand people. Near the Eosetta, or western
branch of the Nile, is Sa-al-Hazar, the old-time Sais,
the burial place of many Egyptian kings, and a
venerable seat of learning in the time of the
pharaohs, whence, as we are told, the famous
Cecrops migrated to found Athens.

The town of Rosetta is located among unhealthy
marshes, just within the mouth of the Rosetta branch,
and is known to the Arabs as Rashad, having about
seventeen thousand population. The original Egyp-
tian Bolbitine was nearly two miles further inland
from the sea. Despite its decaying houses, the
beautiful gardens give Rosetta an attractive appear-
ance, but the port is poor, the shifting sand bar at
the river's mouth making it difficult of entrance. Its
chief modern fame comes from the discovery, in
1799, of the "Rosetta Stone" now in the British
Museum, which furnished the first key to deciphering
the Egyptian hieroglyphics. During Napoleon's
occupation, M. Boussard, officer of engineers in his
army, found this stone, when excavating the trenches
of Fort St. Julian near Rosetta, and three years
afterward it was taken to England. It is a slab of
black basalt, about S1/^ by 2% feet, and nearly one
foot thick, and was erected 195 B. C., by Egyptian
priests, in honor of Ptolemy Epiphanes, in com-

480 THE MEDITERRANEAN

memoration of his services to the country. It
recites these benefits, and decrees that the king's
statue shall be placed in every temple, and divine
honors paid him. The inscriptions are repeated in
three languages — Greek, the sacred hieroglyphics,
and the Demotic or common Egyptian characters.
Thus were given, side by side, two long Egyptian
texts, as well as a translation in Greek, enabling the
scholars to gain a knowledge of the long-lost tongues
of ancient Egypt and decipher the hieroglyphics
that are everywhere found.

ALEXANDBIA.

The visitor to Egypt usually comes over the
Mediterranean by steamer to Alexandria, entering
the old harbor on the low-lying coast through a
narrow waterway 600 feet wide, between the long
stone protective breakwaters, recently constructed,
and admiring the wonderful coloring of the sea, in
the morning sunlight. £Tear the ship, the surface
sparkles in azure and olive, with variations of
emerald and sapphire, while the more distant waves,
beyond the breakwater, are tinted with purple and
violet. A swarm of rowboats surround the arriv-
ing vessel, and the bare-legged boatmen, clad in
comic opera costumes, with complexions varying
from black to light yellow, contend vigorously for
the possession of passengers and luggage. When
landed, a horde of beggars and peddlers is en-

ALEXANDRIA 481

countered, but the black Nubian soldiers, in blue
uniforms, who are on guard at the railway dock,
drive them off, by snapping long whips at their
bare legs. Some travellers halt in. Alexandria for a
short sojourn, but most of them at once start on
the railway ride of one hundred and thirty miles
over the monotonous delta to the national capital,
Cairo, and the pyramids. Alexandria is the chief
port of Egypt, and near the harbor formerly were
the two Cleopatra's Needles, obelisks about sixty-
six feet high, originally brought from Heliopolis.
One, which was lying on the ground, was presented
to England, and is on the Thames embankment in
London, while the other, which stood erect, was given
to New York and is now in Central Park.

Alexandria is the famous city founded by Alex-
ander the Great, 332 B. C., when he had destroyed
Tyre, its site being at the entrance of the Canopic
branch of the Nile, long ago practically closed up.
The original city plan embraced two main streets,
crossing at right angles in the centre, each being one
hundred feet wide, one stretching from north to
south, and the other from east to west. There was
an outlying island, Pharos, upon which the first
known lighthouse was built, of great height, as a
guide to the mariner, and the island was connected
with the mainland by a dyke, that divided the inner
from the outer harbor, the vessels passing through

a channel crossed by movable bridges. The eastern
VOL. 11—31

482 THE MEDITERRANEAN

end of the city, called the Bruchium, contained the
royal palace of the Ptolemies, under whose rule, in
their time of vast power, Alexandria became the
great centre to which converged most of the trade
of Europe and the Mediterranean with Persia and
the far East. The city had over three hundred
thousand free inhabitants, besides slaves, and it was
the renowned seat of universal learning, where the
schools of Grecian philosophy flourished. It was
famous for the Alexandrian Library and the Museum,
an establishment where scholars were maintained
at public expense. Here lived Euclid, whose
Elements of Geometry have since held sway for
about twenty-two centuries in all schools, a book
of such abstruse character that it is said :

If there should be another flood,

Hither for refuge fly;
Were the old world to be submerged

This book would still be dry.

In Alexandria, in the third century B. C., the
Scriptures were first made known to the heathen
by the celebrated Greek version of the Old Testa-
ment, called the Septuagint, from the seventy-two
members of the Sanhedrim and the translators who
made and sanctioned it. This version was begun
by Jews of Alexandria, about 280 B. C., and finished
by other scholars, in the course of several years,
and it became the parent of many translations into
various ancient languages. • Christianity soon got a

ALEXANDRIA 483

foothold here, though the city became the scene of
very unchristian disputation and violence between
the sects, for in no place were religious conflicts
more frequent or sanguinary. There was also great
suffering, during the struggle of Cleopatra with her
brother Ptolemy, in Caesar's Alexandrian war.
The city fell permanently under Roman power,
about 30 B. C., when many of its most precious
works of art were removed to Home. Its greatness,
however, continued until the establishment of the
seat of the Roman Eastern Empire at Constanti-
nople, when its decline began. In the high tide of
Moslem conquest that followed the death of Mo-
hammed the Prophet, Amru, the general of the
Caliph Omar, captured Alexandria, in 640 A. D.
Omar, the second successor of Mohammed, was one
of the greatest Moslem conquerors, and according
to one of their historians, he " took from the
infidels thirty-six thousand cities and castles, de-
stroyed four thousand temples and churches, and
founded or endowed fourteen hundred mosques."
Alexandria continued their chief city until, in the
tenth century, Cairo was founded by the caliphs
of the Fatimite dynasty, and was made the Egyp-
tian capital. The discovery of the route to the East
Indies around the Cape of Good Hope completed
Alexandria's medieval decay. The only perfect
relics of the distant past it still possesses are the
underground cisterns for the preservation of the

484 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Nile water, the Catacombs and Pompey's Pillar.
This is an obelisk of red granite, a eingle stone
nearly ninety feet high and nine feet in diameter,
standing on a marble base, sixty feet in circum-
ference, and surmounted by a Corinthian capital
nine feet high. The entire column, which is 114
feet high, is beautifully polished, overtopping the
town, and serving as a guiding beacon for ships
entering the harbor. It was built 296 A. D. by the
prefect of Egypt, in honor of Diocletian. The old
city had a circumference of nine miles, and at the
intersection of the two chief streets was an open
square over a mile in circumference, the streets
and square being decorated by splendid palaces,
temples and obelisks, and much of their ornamen-
tation was subsequently carried off to embellish
Rome and Constantinople.

More than one-fourth of the ancient city of
Alexandria was occupied by the royal palace,
which projected beyond the promontory of Lochras,
and each succeeding Ptolemy added to its magnifi-
cence. Within this enclosure were the museum,
which was the home of the learned men supported
by the government, attractive groves, spacious build-
ings, and a temple where was deposited the body of
Alexander, in a golden coffin, brought from Babylon
after his death. One of the Ptolemies carried off
this golden coffin, and replaced it with one of glass.
The gymnasium, upon the lake shore, on the eastern

ALEXANDRIA 485

side of the city, had a portico over six hundred feet
long, supported by rows of marble columns. The
suburb of Xicopolis stretched far along the seashore,
outside the Canopus Gate, and here was a superb
amphitheatre and race course. Dinocrates, who
built the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, was the
architect employed by Alexander. His great captain
and successor, Ptolemy Soter, who became governor
of Egypt, was the first to take the title of king,
making Alexandria his royal residence 304 B. C.
Upon the huge square watch-tower of Pharos, which
was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the
world, fires were kept burning to guide the incoming
sailors, and now a spacious fort occupies the site.

The Temple of Serapeum housed the famous
Alexandrian Library, the collection of manuscript
books being started by Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II,
and becoming the largest in the world, prior to the
invention of printing. Demetrius Phalereus, a
Greek fugitive, coming to the Egyptian court, sug-
gested it, and spoke with admiration of the public
libraries at Athens, being appointed the superin-
tendent. He collected for it the books of all nations,
and it grew to seven hundred thousand manuscript
volumes. The plan was to seize all books brought
into Egypt by Greeks or other foreigners, which
were transcribed, the copies being handed back to
the owners and the originals placed in the library.
One of the Ptolemies borrowed from the Athenians

486 THE MEDITEKRANEAN

the works of Sophocles, Euripedes and ^Eschylus,
returning the copies with a present of $150,000 for
the exchange. The library, and much of the city,
were seriously damaged in the second century B. C.,
the learned men fleeing to Greece and the Archipel-
ago. During the siege of the city, in Csesar's war, a
large part of the library was burnt, and, according to
Gibbon, Marc Antony sent the collection of books
from Pergamos to Cleopatra, which became the nu-
cleus of a new library, that increased in size and im-
portance during four centuries, until dispersed by the
destruction of the Serapeum, as a heathen temple, by
Theodosius, about 390 A. D. Again the library was
reestablished, and Alexandria flourished as one of the
chief seats of literature under Christian auspices,
until conquered by the Arabs in 640. Amru wrote
to his master, the Caliph Omar, " I have taken the
City of the West ; it is of immense extent ; there are
four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, twelve
thousand dealers in fresh oil, forty thousand Jews
who pay tribute, and four hundred theatres." The
library was then burnt, the tradition being that this
was done in consequence of Omar's fanatical deci-
sion : " If these writings of the Greeks agree with
the Book of God, they are useless and need not be pre-
served ; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and
ought to be destroyed." Accordingly they were used
to heat the water for the four thousand baths of the
city, and such was their number that it required six

ALEXANDRIA 487

months to consume them. This ended the famous
library. The noted Alexandrian Codex, an ancient
manuscript of the Scriptures, written on vellum,
which was found in the city, and in 1628 presented
to King Charles I of England, is now preserved in
the British Museum.

The modern city is built upon the causeway, which
was originally the communication between the main-
land and the Pharos, and by constant accumulations
of sand has become a wide neck of land. There are
two ports : one at the extremity of an extensive road-
stead, west of the Pharos, in which deep draft vessels
anchor ; and the other, the modern port, but less ad-
vantageous, on the eastern side of the Pharos. The
spacious Lake Mareotis, back of the city, had been
dried up by accumulations of sand, but in 1801 the
British army cut through the narrow strip which sep-
arated it from Lake Aboukir, to the eastward, and let
in the sea again. Alexandria has grown greatly of
late, in population and commerce, and is believed to
have a half million people. The newer modern town
has more an Italian than an oriental appearance, and
this dwarfs and overcomes the ruins of the ancient
city and the wretched habitations of the Arabs.
The European quarter has good streets and resi-
dences, the central and most attractive portion being
the great promenade of Mehemet Ali Square. The
statue of that vigorous ruler, the founder of the pres-
ent khedival family, who did so much for the city

488 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and for Egypt, is the centre of this square, which
divides the Arab section from the newer European
quarter. During Arabi Pasha's rebellion, the mob,
in 1882, burnt the buildings around this square, but
they were rebuilt in greater splendor.

The Mahmudiyeh Canal connects Alexandria with
the Nile, and the chief staple of trade is cotton,
which is more than nine-tenths of the whole Egyptian
export. From almost under Pompey's Pillar the
cotton wharves extend inside the harbor for over a
mile along this canal, and the railroad from Upper
Egypt also connects with them. There are large
storehouses and cotton presses. Blue-gowned Egyp-
tian laborers carry around the bags of cotton and
cotton-seed upon their backs and heads. This prod-
uct yields enormously, the increased growth being due
largely to the Assouan dam, and when the rais-
ing of the dam is completed, there will be a further
increased growth on the new lands irrigated, the crop,
now about 1,300,000 to 1,400,000 bales annually,
being expected then to expand to 2,000,000 bales.
So thoroughly are the cotton lands worked that they
raise on the average almost a bale to the acre, the
yield being about 450 pounds. Eour-nfths of the
crop grows in the delta, where the best cotton is raised
on very small farms. The crop of 1907 was about
1,300,000 bales out of a total world's product of 16,-
512,000 bales, of which the United States produced
10,882,000 bales and India 2,445,000 bales. Out of

ALEXANDRIA 489

the total Egyptian exports of 1907, $140,065,925,
the cotton exports were $130,764,555, $72,500,000
going to the United Kingdom, and $17,671,000 to the
United States. Almost the whole export is from
Alexandria. At the harbor entrance, a reef stretches
nearly four miles across between Adjemi Point, on
the west, and the Cape Eas el Tin. Formerly there was
a channel excavated through this, about 300 feet wide
and passing vessels of 27 feet draught. The growing
commerce, however, required a new channel to be
blasted through the rocky reef, nearer to Adjemi
Point, which is approaching completion, and is 600
feet wide and 35 feet deep. The long stone protect-
ive breakwaters project far outside the entrance. A
large amount of money has been expended on this
work, and upon new quays and docks, within the har-
bor, to accommodate the great increase of trade. The
partly constructed railway, from Alexandria west-
ward over the caravan route, to the border of Tripoli,
is expected to give a stimulus to trade, about two hun-
dred miles being in operation.

About thirteen miles northeast of Alexandria is
the port of Aboukir, and on the bay, out in front of
it, was fought Nelson's famous " Battle of the Nile,"
in August, 1798. The French fleet, with Napoleon
Bonaparte and his army aboard, had started from
Toulon and landed the troops for the occupation of
Egypt, and Nelson was sent with an English squad-
ron in pursuit. The attack was made at dusk, on Au-

490 THE MEDITERRANEAN

gust 1st, and though the French fought desperately,
the engagement, continuing all night, ended at day-
break in a complete victory for the English. Only
four French vessels escaped, and they lost over 5,000
men, the English loss being but 895. The French
Admiral Brueys was mortally wounded, and ISTelson
slightly. Many cases of the greatest individual hero-
ism were recorded in this noted conflict. Captain
Casabianca commanded Admiral Brueys's flagship
L'Orient, which blew up, and Casabianca and his son,
ten years old, were killed by the explosion, giving
the theme for the famous ballad by Mrs. Hemans.
Bonaparte, afterward, on land, was more successful
than the French fleet had been on the sea, for at
Aboukir, July 25, 1Y99, with a smaller force, he al-
most annihilated the Turkish army under Mustapha
Pasha.

QUEEN CLEOPATRA.

Alexandria was the birthplace and capital of the
romantic and wonderful Cleopatra, the last queen of
Egypt. She was the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, born
69 B. C., and died, in Alexandria, August 30th, 30 B.
C. When but seventeen years old, she became, by the
death of her father, joint heir to the throne with her
younger brother Ptolemy. Her subsequent life was
a career of constant intrigue, designed to captivate
the various rulers of Rome, who, through changing
fortune, controlled the Mediterranean and the des-

QUEEN CLEOPATRA 491

tinies of Egypt, her father having sought Roman aid.
Cleopatra's brother, Ptolemy, quarreled with her,
and receiving ample support, she had been driven out
of Alexandria, when in 48 B. C. Julius Caesar cap-
tured the city and occupied the royal palace. She
was then twenty-one years old, and sought an inter-
view with Caesar, and by a most theatrical venture
got into his presence. Arriving off the harbor en-
trance in a galley, she went in a little boat, with but
a single attendant, the Sicilian Apollodorus, at twi-
light into the port, and unobserved, reached the steps
leading to the palace from the waterside. Wrapped
in a roll of heavy carpet, tied with cords, Apollo-
dorus carried her in, and got to Caesar's presence, to
display the goods. The carpet was unrolled, and
the attractive queen appeared before his astonished
gaze. The daring scheme was entirely successful,
the romantic introduction, with her beauty and arts,
captivated him, and she acquired a power over Caesar,
which continued until his death. He interfered in
her favor, she was restored to the throne, and her
brother Ptolemy was killed in a battle on the Nile,
near Memphis. Cleopatra went to Rome with Cae-
sar, living there in the greatest splendor, until his
assassination, in 44, and she bore him a son, Caesar-
ion. After Caesar's death she returned to Alexan-
dria.

Subsequent events made Marc Antony powerful,
and he became one of the triumvirs, ruling Eome and

492 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the Mediterranean, his share being the countries at
the eastern border of the great sea, and beyond. An-
tony warred against the Parthians, in Asia, and
proceeding eastward, set up his court at Tarsus, in
Asia Minor, and Cleopatra then devoted her arts to
captivate him. Antony was not a stranger, having
made her acquaintance in Rome, and Cleopatra found
it to her interest to awaken his desires, and yet keep
away from him. Finally he sent for her, to come
to Tarsus, in 41, and she crossed the Mediterranean
and made the triumphal progress up the River Cyd-
nus to that city which Plutarch and Shakespeare
have done so much, by vivid description, to render
famous. But she did not go all the way to him,
sending word that he should first call on her. This
he did, and he was received with magnificence, the
queen, who understood him well, doing everything
possible to enslave him to her charms. She gave a
feast, which lasted continuously four days and nights,
and the ensnared Roman is said to have partaken of
every dish. Her conquest was immediate and com-
plete, and then began their life of revelry and ex-
cesses, which was long continued in Asia Minor, and
afterward at Alexandria, and was only interrupted
when disturbances at Rome required Antony's return.
He married Octavia, the sister of Octavius, but did
not forget the charming queen, three years later re-
turning to Alexandria, where their revels were re-
newed, she bearing him children, and the career of

QUEEN CLEOPATRA 493

dissipation and excesses being continued at Ephesus
and Athens. Antony's absence and misconduct,
however, had raised many enemies at home, and they
sought his defeat, led by Octavius, and it finally came
in 31, in the fatal naval conflict at Actium, where
Cleopatra suddenly sailed away Avith her Egyptian
fleet. The defeated Antony also ran off, closely fol-
lowing her to Alexandria. Then there was another
round of excesses, but the broken and dispirited An-
tony gave up in despair, as enemies closed around
him.

Finally Octavius appeared before Alexandria, and
soon was the conqueror. As Antony and his defeated
troops fled through the gates into the city, the queen
gave up all for lost, and retiring to an immense
mausoleum she had constructed, locked herself within,
having only two attendants, her women Iras and
Charmian. Antony, going to the palace, was told she
had ended her life, and then he stabbed himself, in-
flicting a mortal wound. As he lay dying, he heard
that Cleopatra was not dead, but in hiding, and being
carried to the mausoleum, he was admitted, and ex-
pired in the lady's arms. Octavius entered Alexan-
dria, and captured Cleopatra in her mausoleum.
She sought to fascinate the new conqueror, as she had
done the others, but was unsuccessful. Soon she
realized that her life was only spared that she might
grace the triumph of Octavius, at Rome. Then elud-
ing the vigilance of the guards, an asp was clandes-

494 THE MEDITERRANEAN

tinely brought her in a basket of fruit. She caused
her attendants Iras and Charmian to array her in
her most splendid royal robes and crown, placed the
asp in her bosom, and died from the poison of its
bite. The two faithful women imitated her, and the
soldiers of Octavius found all three dead. Thus
passed away Cleopatra, the sixth Egyptian queen of
that name, and the last of the celebrated dynasty of
Ptolemies, who ruled Egypt for nearly three cen-
turies after the death of Alexander the Great. Oc-
tavius, who afterward became the Roman Emperor
Augustus Caesar, had her son Caesarion put to death.
Cleopatra's career is one of the great memories of the
ancient world, and William Harris Lytle of Cincin-
nati, the Poet of the West, who fell in the battle of
Chickamauga, Tennessee, in 1863, has apostrophized
the enslaved Antony's dying words to his charmer :

I am dying, Egypt, dying!

Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast,
And the dark Plutonian shadows

Gather on the evening blast;
Let thine arms, oh queen, support me,

Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear,
Listen to the great heart secrets

Thou, and thou alone, must hear.

Though my scarred and veteran legions

Bear their eagles high no more,
And my wrecked and scattered galleys

Strew dark Actium's fatal shore:
Though no glittering guards surround me,

Prompt to do their master's will

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 495

I must perish like a Roman —
Die the great triumvir still.

And for tliee, star-eyed Egyptian —

Glorious sorceress of the Nile!
Light the path to Stygian darkness,

With the splendor of thy smile.
Give the Cresar crowns and arches,

Let his brow the laurel twine;
I can scorn the Senate's triumph ;

Triumphing in love like thine.

I am dying, Egypt, dying!

Hark! the insulting foemen's cry;
They are coming — quick, my falchion!

Let me front them ere I die.
Ah! no more amid the battle

Shall my heart exulting swell;
Isis and Osiris guard thee — •

Cleopatra — Rome — farewell!

THE PHAEAOHS AND THEIR GODS.

There is no appreciable limit to the antiquity of
Egypt. Its traditionary records are historical, back
about as far as four thousand years before Christ,
and earlier than that time they fade into mythical
tales. Menes is generally said to have been the first
king or pharaoh, and he was succeeded by 341 mon-
archs to Sethos, known as Seti I. Herodotus says
that the priests told him there were between Menes
and Sethos 341 generations and 11,340 years. The
name of pharaoh is derived from the Egyptian
Pli-Ra, the sun, and was given the king to denote
that he was an emblem of the god of light and de-

496 THE MEDITERRANEAN

rived his authority directly from Heaven. In the
ancient hieroglyphics this name is expressed by a
ring or disk, representing the sun. The Egyptian
paganism was pantheism, generally in family groups,
of a parent god, and a wife or sister, and a son. It
was also, in the earlier times, largely local, each cap-
ital and district having its special divinities. Thus,
Ptah was the god of Memphis, and his triad, with the
goddess Sakhot, or Bast, and Imhotep, were pre-
eminent while Memphis was the capital. Thebes
was the capital during Egypt's greatest prominence,
and its god Ammon then became the chief deity of
the country. Here the triad was Ammon, Mut and
Khonsu. At Apollinopolis were Magna, Hor-
bahud, or Horus, Hathor and Her-pakhrut (Her-
pocrates). These governing triads and combina-
tions were usually accompanied by inferior deities,
completing the company, and being personifications
of the elements, senses and passions of humanity.
The worship of some of these gods became almost
universal, that of Osiris, Isis and Horus being found
all over Egypt, in the earliest period. Osiris was
perhaps the most universally worshipped, he being
the god and judge of the dead, before whom every
soul was to be brought for final judgment. Accord-
ing to the Greek descriptions, the gods were divided
into various orders or systems, the gods of Memphis
being Ptah, Ea, Shu, Seb, Osiris, Sator, Typhan and
Horus. The Theban system included Ammon, Mentu,

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 497

Atmu, Shu, Seb, Osiris, Set, Horus and Sabak.
There afterward carne a tendency to fuse different
gods into one, Ammon-Ra, for example, being identi-
fied with Horus, and Horus, Ra, Khnurn, Mentu and
Turn being merely representatives of the sun at dif-
ferent periods of his diurnal course. With the ex-
pansion of Egyptian commerce, foreign deities be-
came engrafted into the system, such as Bar (Baal),
Ashtarata (Ashtaroth), Anta (Anastis) and Set or
Sutekh, another name for Baal.

The first of all deities was Ptah of Memphis, the
" opener," a bow-legged dwarf, who was the creator
of the world, sun and moon, out of chaos, which was
called " ha," or matter. He was the head-god of the
country until the political career of Memphis came
to an end. Sakhet was a lioness, and Bast and
Bubastis, lion-headed goddesses presiding over fire.
!N"efer-Tum, son of Ptah, was a god, wearing a lotus
on his head. Menes founded Memphis, and it de-
clined when Thebes became the capital, and Ammon
was its god, his temple being built at Karnak. As
Ammon became more powerful, his priests desired
to give him the attributes of other gods, as his greater
glory reflected upon them, and hence to give him the
added influence of Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis, they
called him Ammon-Ra. As Thebes became the chief
city, in ancient Egypt's period of greatness, so Am-
mon-Ra came to be acknowledged as the head of the

gods, at least in outward demonstration, throughout
VOL. 11—32

498 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the land. When the Egyptians conquered Nubia,
they established the worship of Ammon there, and
when, in turn, the Ethiopians invaded Egypt, they
were loyal to Ammon-Ea. • He represented all the
hidden power of the sun, and was the Jupiter of the
Egyptian Olympus. Mut, his wife, was the mother
goddess of matter, or the Juno ; Khonsu or " force,"
their son, was the Hercules ; and Nit, or the " Shut-
tle," was the Minerva, in the Theban combination.
Subordinate to these was Khom or Amsu, the " en-
shrined," who, as Harneklet, or powerful Horus, rep-
resented the beginning and the end, or cause and
effect. Closely related was Khnum, worshipped at
Elephantine, the ram-headed god of the liquid ele-
ment, who also created the matter of which the gods
were made, and connected with him were the god-
desses Heka, the " frog," a primeval formation,
Seti, a " sunbeam," and Anuka, described as the be-
ginning of the godhead.

The story of Osiris is told by Plutarch, and, ac-
cording to the legend, Newt, the goddess of the sky,
whose husband was Ea, the sun-god, and father of
the other gods, had four children, the gods Osiris
and Set and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. But
Ea was not the father of Osiris, who was begotten by
Seb, and his birth created a scandal in Heaven, al-
though Ea, who was very angry, seems to have been
afterward appeased. Osiris, in human form, be-
came the Egyptian king, ruling wisely, but his

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 499

brother Set, the god of evil and darkness, hated and
tried to destroy him. He persuaded Osiris to enter a
chest, which was immediately closed, covered with
molten lead, and thrown into the Nile, being car-
ried to the sea. It lodged in a tamarisk tree, which
grew all around it. Meanwhile his sister and wife,
Isis, searched for the body, and finding it, brought
it back in the chest, and, hiding it, started to find her
son Horus. Set, however, discovered the chest, and
taking the body out, tore it into fourteen pieces, that
were scattered throughout Egypt. Isis, returning,
hunted for the dismembered body, burying each piece
where she found it, and building a shrine to Osiris.
When Horus grew to manhood, he fought Set, the
murderer of his father, in a contest continuing sev-
eral days, finally bringing him a prisoner to Isis.
She let Set go, and Horus, enraged, tore the diadem
from her brow, which Thout replaced by a cow's
head. The head of Osiris had been found, and was
buried at Abydos, which became his chief shrine.
The ancient Egyptian wished to be buried at Abydos,
that thus was made the scene of the last judgment,
or at least arranged for his mummy to be sent there,
to dwell for a time with Osiris. Both Seti and
Eameses built temples there to the god, the legend
of his dismemberment and resurrection being favorite
subjects of illustration in the Osiris temples at
Abydos, Denderah, Karnak and Philse. Isis, the sis-
ter and wife of Osiris, was probably the greatest

500 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Egyptian goddess, her worship spreading to Syria
and Italy. To her, the island of Philse was especially
sacred, and she is also identified, and to an extent
confused, with Hathor. The cow was sacred to both,
and they are represented with horns and sometimes
with the cow's head; the moon, which was sacred to
them, being usually placed between the horns. Horns
was most widely worshipped, and had various names
in different places, among them Ee-Harmakhis. He
was a sun-god, and thus the prefix Ee was given, and
he had a hawk's head, as the hawk was sacred to him.
He was the special god of Edfu and Kom Ombo,
and the patron of the famous Sphynx near Cairo.

Ea was the great sun-god, and was worshipped as
the god of day, the creator of the world and all things,
and the giver of light and heat. His chief place of
worship was at Heliopolis, the On of the Bible,
which at one time was the most important religious
centre, though its buildings have almost entirely dis-
appeared, their materials having been carried off by
the Arabs for the construction of Cairo. Joseph
married the daughter of a priest of Ea, Plato studied
in the Heliopolis schools, and Herodotus and Strabo
visited it. The belief is that Moses was educated
at Heliopolis, as St. Paul says he was " instructed
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." The religious
literature of Egypt shows the influence of the priests
of On. It was natural that the rival priests, at
Thebes, should have given Ea's attributes to their god

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 501

Ammon-Ra, thus making him also a sun-god. The
multitude in Egypt worshipped a great variety of
abstract principles, and even animals and vegetables,
and the doctrine of only one god was rare, though it
is believed to have been privately taught, by some of
the priests, to a select few. To each deity an animal
seems to have been held sacred, and was regarded as
a symbolical representative. We have seen how the
cow was sacred to Isis and Hathor, and the hawk to
Horus. Similarly, the cat was sacred to Ptah ; the
ibis to Thout, the ibis-headed scribe of the gods, who
was the patron of learning; the crocodile to Sebek;
the ram to Khnum, who had a ram's head; and the
bull to Osiris, the sacred bull of Memphis, whose
name was Apis, being particularly venerated
throughout Egypt. The existence of the spirit
after death was universally believed, and also a
future state of rewards and punishments, in which
the good dwelt with the gods, while the wicked
were consigned to fiery torments amid perpetual
darkness. There also was a belief that, after the
lapse of ages, the spirit will return to the body,
which, therefore, was carefully embalmed.

The sacred bull Apis, the Egyptian Hepi, had
divine honors paid him at Memphis, as the imper-
sonation of Osiris. It was necessary that this bull
should be black, with a triangle of white on the fore-
head, a white spot in the form of a crescent on the
right side, and a sort of knot, shaped like a beetle,

502 THE MEDITERRANEAN

under his tongue. Bulls of this peculiar description
were rare, but when one was found, he was fed during
four months in a building facing the east. At the
new moon, he was led to a splendid ship on the river
Nile, with great solemnity, and conveyed to Heli-
opolis, where he was fed forty days more by the
priests and women. Then the priests carried him to
Memphis, where he had a temple, two chambers to
dwell in, and a large court for exercise. His actions
were supposed to have prophetic significance, and he
was believed to impart prophetic power to the chil-
dren about him. Every year, when the Nile began
rising, his birthday was celebrated, the festival con-
tinuing seven days, and it was said the crocodiles
were always tame, as long as the feast lasted. De-
spite all the veneration shown him, the bull was not
permitted to live beyond twenty-five years, this dura-
tion of time being based, it was thought, on the as-
tronomical theology of the Egyptians. The death of
Apis, however, produced universal mourning, con-
tinuing until the priests had found a successor. As
it was difficult to find one bearing all the necessary
marks, the traditions indicate that fraud was some-
times practiced by the priests.

There have been enumerated 438 gods of various
degrees of importance in the Egyptian mythology.
In the representations on the temples and tombs most
of them have human bodies, but their crowns differ.
Osiris wears the crown of Upper Egypt, and is

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 503

wrapped as a mummy; Ammon-Ra's crown is lofty,
resembling two cornucopias; Horus has a hawk's
head; Mut, a cap with vulture's wings; and Maat
wears a feather. The religious service was the
adoration of the god, with singing and processions,
some sacrifices, and generally gifts, which pleased
the priests. Ra, and all the sun-gods, were adored
at the rising and setting. The priests were usually
oracles, were consulted as fortune-tellers are, and
being the learned men of the time, they com-
posed all the books. The Precepts of Ptah-hotep and
the Confessions of the Soul of Osiris are regarded as
among* the oldest books in the world. They also
wrote the Book of the Dead and the Book of the
Underworld (the Duat). The people saw the sun-
god Ra go down in the west, and reappear next morn-
ing in the east. As he must have travelled under-
neath to do so, the proximity of the Nile gave them
the impression that he did this in a boat, and conse-
quently he journeyed during the night in his boat
through the Duat, a long narrow valley with a river.
The Duat contained demons of all kinds, mostly
snakes, and was divided into twelve parts repre-
senting the hours, the pylon, or entrance to each, .be-
ing guarded by the demons. A vast multitude of the
souls of the dead accompanied Ra in his underworld
journey, but if they did not have the proper password
their progress was obstructed. If it happened that
Osiris, in his judgment, condemned a soul, it was

504 THE MEDITERRANEAN

at once devoured by the waiting dog, and annihi-
lated. The Duat displayed conspicuous fires, but
they were not for the torment of the damned, but
to give more splendor to the progress of Ra. From
these flames no doubt came the subsequent idea of
the hell awaiting the wicked. When the Persians
arrived they insulted the Egyptian gods, but Alex-
ander the Great recognized, and even worshipped
them, and the Romans went further, by admitting
Egypt's leading divinities to their own pantheon.
They thus identified Jupiter as Ammon, Osiris
became Pluto, Horus was Apollo, and Isis or Hathor
was Venus. St. Mark introduced Christianity into
Egypt? and it got a firm foothold, but in the seventh
century the Moslems overran Egypt, and Islam has
been the prevalent religion ever since. Now, nine-
tenths of the people are Mohammedans of the Sun-
nite sect. There are 750,000 Christians, mostly
Copts, these being the purest descendants of the an-
cient Egyptian race, and probably 30,000 Hebrews
reside in the country.

In Egyptian history, there are thirty-one dynasties
of pharaohs enumerated between the great Menes,
who began the list, and the conquest by Alexander.
Although the priests told Herodotus about the 341
generations and 11,340 years between Menes and
Sethos, yet Professor Flinders Petrie, as the result
of his valuable researches, thinks that Menes ruled
about 4777 B. C., and that a dynasty of ten kings of

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 505

Thines ruled previously, beginning about 5,000 B.
C. The thirty-one dynasties are divided into the
Ancient Empire, of eleven dynasties, continuing dur-
ing some twenty centuries to 2778 B. C., the Middle
Empire, of six dynasties, until 1587 B. C., and the
New Empire, beginning with Egypt's most glorious
period, in the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties,
and then diminishing in force until the coming of
Alexander. Menes founded Memphis. The third
dynasty made the earliest pyramid, the Step Pyra-
mid of Sakkara, built by Zeser, the second pharaoh ;
and Snefru, the ninth and last king, built Medum
Pyramid. The fourth dynasty included the greatest
pyramid builders, Cheops, Chephren and Menkaura.
The twelfth dynasty began Karnak, and its pharaoh,
Usertesen I, set up obelisks at Heliopolis, his suc-
cessors conquering Nubia, and advancing the south-
ern boundary of the kingdom as far as Wady Haifa
and the Second Cataract. Amenemhat III, of this
dynasty, built the dam regulating Lake Moeris,
which had been made by an earlier pharaoh, and
thus established the first reservoir for controlling
the Nile waters, which created the Eayoum, one of
the richest Egyptian provinces. The Hyksos or
Shepherd Kings, then came into power, but were
driven out by Aahmes I, who began the eighteenth
dynasty, the first of the New Empire, this pharaoh,
afterward deified, being regarded as the George
Washington of Egypt.

506 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Then followed the most famous period of Egyp-
tian history, continuing four centuries, and includ-
ing the celebrated Pharaohs Amenhotep, Thothmes,
Queen Hatasu, Sethos and Rameses. The greatest
among these were Thothmes III and Kameses II,
who built many temples and carried on wars of
conquest. Thothmes III constructed the two Cleo-
patra's Needles at Heliopolis, afterward taken to
Alexandria. Thothmes I had two sons and a daugh-
ter, the noted Queen Hatasu. She was the co-ruler
during the final years of her father's reign, and
then was the wife of her older brother Thothmes II,
and afterward ruled with the other brother, or
nephew (which is uncertain), Thothmes III. She
was the controlling power in Egypt for thirty years,
until her death. She built the Der el-Bahri Temple
at Thebes, and in memory of her father set up two
obelisks at Karnak, one being a flawless block of red
granite, and the loftiest monolith existing. She
sent out what is believed to have been the world's
first armada, and to do this excavated the first
canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, by which her
galleys got out into the ocean, and sailed to the
" Land of Punt," supposed to be Somaliland, on the
eastern African coast. Bas-reliefs, on the walls of
her great temple, show the progress and warm re-
ception of this early exploring expedition, and the
exchange of gifts with the Prince of Punt. Her
sculptured face is also there, displaying a rounded

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 507

outline, a delicately carved aquiline nose, and the
suggestion of a dimple in her chin. During her
era, Arabia was conquered, and the Egyptian empire
extended eastward to the Euphrates, and westward
to Algeria, while a powerful fleet was established
on the Mediterranean, by which Cyprus, Crete, the
Grecian Archipelago, and the coasts of southern
Greece and Italy were occupied and controlled.
Her temple at Karnak was completed, after her
death, by Thothmes III, who erased her memorials,
however, and took the glory to himself. He erected
colossal statues at Thebes, and built Luxor, which
was completed by Eameses II. The first Eameses
reigned but a short time after Thothmes, and was
succeeded by Seti I, the Sethos of the Greek writers,
who began the extensive Temple of Osiris at Abydos.
Eameses II completed this, and built the Hall of
Columns at Karnak.

Eameses II, the son of Seti, was probably the
greatest of the Egyptian pharaohs. He did not
carry on so many wars, his ancestors having had
wide conquests, but he was a prolific builder, a re-
lentless tyrant, and to the subsequent Greek and
Eoman chroniclers became the hero-king of Egypt.
Abydos, Luxor and the rock-temple of Abu Simbel
are his monuments. He reigned for sixty-seven
years, and is said to have had one hundred and
seventy children of all degrees, there being seventy-
nine sons and fifty-nine daughters enumerated on

508 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the records. His fourth son, Khsemuas, was in-
tended to be the successor, but the old pharaoh out-
lived him, and then Meneptah, the thirteenth son,
was proclaimed heir, but did not succeed until
eleven years later. From the career of Eameses,
deified as Sasu-Ea, and his predecessors, Thothmes
and Seti, the Greek writers formed the legend of
Sesostris, the Egyptian conqueror, the name being
a combination of the three, as were the hero's won-
derful exploits.

Eameses is believed to have begun the Hebrew
unrest, being a relentless taskmaster. We are told
by the Hebrew text of the Bible that Abraham vis-
ited Egypt, on account of the famine in Canaan, in
the 20th century B. C., and the Septuagint fixes it
in the 26th century. When, about 1700 B. C.,
Jacob and his family followed Joseph to Egypt,
there were some seventy of them, with a thousand
dependents. They rapidly increased to two or three
millions, and it was sought to check their increase
by destroying all the male children. Meneptah is
regarded as the pharaoh of the Exodus, when Moses
led them across the Red Sea to the wilderness of
Sinai, in the search for the Promised Land.

After this period the Egyptian empire dete-
riorated. The succeeding pharaohs were descend-
ants of Eameses, and their mummies, as those of
their greater predecessors, have been found in their
tombs mostly in the Bibon el Muluk ravine at

THE PHARAOHS AND THEIR GODS 509

Thebes. All the ancient writers had a wonderful
conception of this city. Homer calls it " hundred-
gated Thebes," with two hundred chariots at each
gate ; Diodorus says it had twenty thousand chariots ;
and Strabo quotes a priest as telling him the fighting
force of the Theban army was seven hundred thou-
sand men. For several centuries Egypt declined,
and the Ethiopians, pressing northward, ultimately
conquered, and they provided the pharaohs of the
twenty-fifth dynasty. Then came the Assyrian in-
vasions, that nation being the world-power of the
time, but they were overthrown, and in the sixth
century B. C., the Persians under Cambyses con-
quered Egypt, founding the twenty-seventh dynasty.
He shocked the religious sensibilities of the people
by killing, with his own hand, the Apis bull, and
he also threw down the colossal statue of the great
Eameses. In the fifth century there was a brief
Egyptian revival, under Nectanebo, who drove out
the Persians, but they regained possession, and held
it until the arrival of Alexander the Great, 332 B.
C., and then ended the native Egyptian kingdom,
its rulers becoming Grecian, in the Ptolemies, with
Ptolemy Soter heading this dynasty. They were
builders of many temples, but their line ended with
the Roman conquest, Egypt becoming the chief
granary of that empire, and at the partition, in the
fourth century of our era, falling to the Eastern
Kingdom, ruled from Constantinople. Then came

510 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the Mohammedan uprising over all the eastern
lands, and the capture of Alexandria, 641 A. D., by
Amru, the general of the Caliph Omar. The
Abbassides dynasty at first ruled, but were over-
thrown by the Fatimites, in 970, and they by the
Mamelukes, in 1240, and in turn the latter were
conquered by the Turkish Sultan Selim, in 1516.
Egypt was nominally ruled by a Turkish pasha,
but there was a strife between the Turks and Mame-
lukes, nearly all the time, until Napoleon came, in
1798, and almost annihilated the Mameluke army,
in the Battle of the Pyramids. The English, in
1801, drove out the French, restoring Turkish rule,
and then Mehemet Ali became the power, but he was
brought into subjection, and Egypt in recent years
has been under British control.

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS.

When Johar, the victorious general of Abu Tum-
mim, the imaum of the Fatimites of Tunis, con-
quered Egypt from the Abbassides, he encamped on
the Nile, just above the delta, at a place called
Fostat, or "the tent," which he made his capital,
and about a mile east from the river, founded a city
to commemorate his victory, which he called Masr el
Kahireh, " the victorious." Thus, Cairo is only
about a thousand years old, and consequently the
most modern city of Egypt. It was made the cap-
ital in the twelfth century, and Saladin greatly im-

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 511

proved and enlarged it. While on the Nile plain,
a spur of the Mokkatam range approaches its south-
eastern border, and here was built the citadel. Thus
made the stronghold of the caliphs, it has become
the chief city of modern Egypt, and is really the
ideal Mohammedan capital. Says the Arab physi-
cian in the Iluncliback, " He who hath not seen
Cairo, hath not seen the world; its soil is gold; its
Nile is a wonder; its women are like the black-eyed
virgins of Paradise; its houses are palaces; and its
air is soft — its odor surpassing that of aloes-wood
and cheering the heart ; and how can Cairo be other-
wise, when it is the mother of the world ? " The rail-
way taking the visitor from Alexandria to Cairo
traverses the delta, crossing a region mostly of
black, sandy loam, as level as a floor, intersected and
broken only by irrigation canals and ditches, and
presenting interesting agricultural scenes. There
are no fences and no waste places, every foot of sur-
face being utilized, the irrigation system making the
land very fruitful. The pumps and the methods
of cultivation are the same, however, as they were
in the time of the pharaohs, the dark-hued and bare-
legged laborers appearing everywhere, with camels,
donkeys and crooked-horned gray buffalo oxen aiding
in the work. The monotony of the level surface is
varied by groups of palm trees, and villages of small
mud huts, roofed with sugar-cane stalks, used only
as a protection from the heat and dews, in this

512 THE MEDITERRANEAN

almost rainless region. The dried corn and cotton
stalks are the chief fuel. Various canals and arms
of the Nile are crossed, and apparently prosperous
towns are passed, Damanhour, with 33,000 people,
Tanta, with 100,000, and Banha, where they have
prolific vineyards. As Cairo is approached, the
scenery improves, there are fine gardens and villas,
the great delta valley narrows, and the hill borders,
along the Kile, loom up in the distance. High ridges
soon break the landscape, off on the eastern side,
their summits covered with buildings and minarets,
while far away southward are the tops of the three
pyramids, looking very small in the distance, but
standing out plainly against the sky. After a four
hours' ride, the train halts at the imposing Arabian
station in Cairo, and the crowd of hotel-runners, cab-
men, donkey boys and porters give the passengers a
vociferous reception.

Situated near the apex of the wide-spreading
delta, in the figurative oriental splendors of language,
Cairo is said to be " the brightest jewel in the handle
of the green fan of Egypt." It covers about eleven
square miles of the plain, adjoining the Nile, and
stretches from the port of Boulak over to Mount
Mokkatam. When Johar made Fostat on the Nile
his capital, he found it, about as Amru, the original
Mohammedan conqueror, had left it, more than three
centuries previously, the place where Amru had en-
camped, and hence its name, referring to his " tent."

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 513

This site, with Askar or the " Camp," Katai or the
" Fiefs," and Masr el Atika or " Old Cairo," four
separate cities, have all been included in the exten-
sive capital, Masr el Kaliireh, the Italians having
corrupted the latter word into Cairo, which Euro-
peans have adopted as the name, while the natives
cling to Masr, the older title. The city has greatly
improved, under European control, and the newer
part gradually encroaches upon the older city. The
population exceeds six hundred thousand, of whom
about forty thousand are Europeans. The modern
centre of Cairo is the Garden of the Esbekiyeh, a
spacious public square, adorned with fine trees and
shrubbery, and around it are the chief hotels, the
banks and various public buildings. From this gar-
den oasis extends the chief street, the Boulevard
Mehemet Ali, southeast, through the heart of the
city, to the Mokkatam mountain ridge.

The citadel stands, as the crowning edifice upon
this impressive ridge, the stronghold of Saladin,
elevated 250 feet above the city, and it contains the
khedive's palace, the mint, public offices and bar-
racks, and the splendid mosque of Mehemet Ali, the
founder of the khedival dynasty. He began this
grand structure of pure alabaster, and it encloses his
tomb. There is a well in the citadel, 280 feet
deep, called " Joseph's Well," after Saladin, who
was named in Arabic Joussoof, meaning Joseph. It

is constructed in two portions, the upper being an
VOL. 11—33

514 THE MEDITERRANEAN

oblong square, 24 by 18 feet and 155 feet deep, and
the lower of similar shape, 51 by 9 feet and 125 feet
deep. The brackish water is not used for drinking,
and is raised from the lower well into a basin at the
bottom of the upper well, whence it is conveyed,
when wanted, to the citadel above. This strong-
hold formerly controlled the city, but is now itself
commanded by the higher ridge at the rear, so that
it is not impregnable in modern warfare.

Within the citadel was given the banquet to which
had been invited the Mameluke chiefs to be ruth-
lessly massacred, only one marvellously escaping, by
leaping on horseback, over the parapet, to the hill
slope sixty feet below, and having his horse killed by
the fall. The dragoman who guides the tourist tells
the story, and proves it by showing the impression of
the horse's hoofs on the stone coping of the parapet
wall. From this wall there is a splendid view over
the city and its environment, with the distant pyra-
mids, standing alongside the Nile, which can be
traced, in silvery course, far away southward. At
the foot of the citadel hill is the old Mosque of
Sultan Ahmed, built of sandstone taken out of the
pyramids, a beautiful but partly ruined structure.
Cairo is famous for its mosques, of which there are
said to be fully five hundred, many, however, being
in dilapidation. The impressive domes and elegant
minarets of these mosques rise in all directions, and
several of the structures are superb specimens of

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 515

Arabian architecture. The most noted is the
Mosque of Sultan Hassan, dating from the four-
teenth century, and not far from the citadel, the
architecture being graceful and the ornamentation
superb. It has a magnificent entrance, beautifully
embellished with honeycombed tracery. The in-
terior is a roofless court, having on each side a
square recess, crowned by a noble arch. The prayer
niche at the eastern end is adjoined by a pulpit,
with colored glass vases of Syrian workmanship,
and having the name of the sultan displayed on
either side. Behind this, and forming a portion of
the edifice, built of stone and surmounted by a dome,
is the sultan's tomb, where a Koran is always kept.
He expended $3,000 daily, for three years, in erect-
ing this building, and the story is told, that he cut
off the architect's hands when it was completed, so
that he could not construct another like it.

The Mosque of Tulun is the oldest in Cairo, built
in the ninth century, and before the city was
founded. It is copied after the sacred Kaaba in
Mecca, and was outside the city limits, until Saladin
extended the walls around it. .This is regarded as a
true representative of the earlier mosques, and pre-
sents types of the pointed arch, afterward intro-
duced by the Moors into Europe. It stands on an
elevation, which the tradition asserts is the hill
whereon the ark rested after the flood, and another
legend is that upon this spot Abraham was about

516 THE MEDITERRANEAN

to offer Isaac a sacrifice when a ram was oppor-
tunely found for a substitute. The Mosque El
Hakim was built by the Fatimite Caliph Hakim,
who asserted his divine mission, and founded the
sect of the Druses; its minarets are very attractive,
and it is noted as having been fortified during Na-
poleon's occupation. Among the most attractive
mosques is Ibrahim Aga, the " Blue Mosque," which
has a forbidding exterior, but within is the most
splendid wall decoration, of purple and blue, in
the elaborate tiling. The Mosque El Hazar, or
" the Splendid," is celebrated for the beauty of its
architecture, and was built in the tenth century.
This is the chief university of the Mohammedan
world, founded in the tenth century, and to it
students come from all parts of Islam, for the study
of the Koran and Arabian literature. It presents
a remarkable sight, the thousands of students, most
of them intending to become priests or government
officials, crowding its generally roofless courts, squat-
ting cross-legged, like tailors, on the floor, with pro-
fessors lecturing to and examining them. As many
as fifteen thousand are sometimes in attendance,
particularly in the early morning. Their garb is
to an extent picturesque, but generally slovenly, the
drapery, in white, blue or black, being carelessly
thrown around the body, and topped with a white,
blue or green turban, when they go forth in slippers,
bound for school. They are bald-headed, excepting

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 517

the little tuft of hair on top of the crown, which is
left so that the faithful may be the more readily
pulled into Paradise. Another fine mosque has at-
tached a free hospital for the insane and helpless,
which always is well populated. Over the tombs of
the Mamelukes, outside the northeastern walls, and
not far from the citadel, are built in their memory
a number of beautiful mosques. As it is the cus-
tom to summon all the people to prayer, by shouting
from the tops of the minarets at six o'clock in the
morning, there are five hundred strong voiced
muezzins, all calling the faithful to their devotions
at the same time, and the Babel may be imagined.
At the other hours of prayer, throughout the day
and evening, the Mohammedan, at his work, in the
shop or the street, despite the crowds, suddenly
falls on his knees, looks toward Mecca, and sway-
ing up and down and forward and backward, says
his prayers. There is no fear of disturbance, as
the act of prayer is devoutly reverenced, and they all
do it, everywhere, at the same time.

Seen from the elevated citadel, Cairo spreads out
like a map on the broad plain. It stretches over
to and across the Nile, having in the foreground a
maze of bazaars, adjacent to the ancient highway
of the Muski, and all about are flat-roofed and
crumbling houses and shady green courts. Above
them rise many tapering minarets and chiselled
domes. This scene gradually extends to the wider

518 THE MEDITERRANEAN

streets, and more spacious gardens, of the newer
West End, having beyond the gleaming silver
streak of the Nile, and at the distant horizon, the
glory of the setting sun in a cloudless sky, turning
the yellow desert into gold. Alongside the Nile
are the old parts of the city, the original towns of
Boulak and Fostat. Here are some ancient grain
storehouses, still used for that purpose, and called
the " Granary of Joseph." Out in the river, on
the Eodah Island, is the celebrated nilometer of
early Egyptian fame, a rude graduated column,
erected long ago, and used to indicate the height of
the river level during the period of inundation.
The tradition is, that it was in the fringe of bul-
rushes formerly thickly bordering this island pha-
raoh's daughter found the infant Moses, and the en-
terprising Arabs, with an eye for backsheesh, now
take you to the spot. The canal that formerly con-
nected the Nile with the Red Sea runs from Fostat
through part of the city, and is used for irrigation.
There is also an aqueduct carried on many arches,
which conveys water to the citadel.

The visitor to Cairo usually seeks the quarter,
which is yet preserved from the encroachment of
modern improvement, that presents medieval Cairo
in its original charm. This is located between the
citadel and the eastern and northern walls, where
are many of the older mosques. In it are the narrow
winding crowded lanes, where the latticed windows

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 519

of the houses overhead often leave but a small
streak of sky to be seen above them. Here are a be-
wildering medley of Egyptians, Turks, Arabs and
Copts, each in his variegated costume, the mass
of people, camels, donkeys and occasional strangers
surging through, and the restless multitude making
all sorts of noises and outcries. There is plenty of
dirt about, without which the Orient would be less
a reality than an artist's fancy, and the Americans
and Europeans, though only a small minority in the
crowds, are interested onlookers. The picturesque
costume of the average Moslem will scarcely bear
close inspection, the grease spots on the turban and
the faded texture of the robe testifying to long use,
though possibly by a noble ancestry. In fact, the
whole scene gives an impression much akin to a
well-worn Turkish carpet, needing cleansing and
brightening. The Mooskee, the centre of the ba-
zaar district, is a narrow, crowded street, inter-
sected by a maze of crooked little passageways
not over three or four feet wide, all lined with small
shops. These street scenes, with the bazaars and
mosques, are the great attractions of the older town.
Among the curious sights is the carriage runner or
sais. These are employed by the officials and the
wealthy, to run in front of their carriages, and
clear the way, being gaudily dressed, and carrying
a gold-tipped staff. They run gracefully, are fine-
looking, and shout warnings at the corners, being re-

520 THE MEDITERRANEAN

garded much like footmen, though using more
active exertion. The privilege of having two sais.
running side by side is regarded as a mark of high
dignity.

Cairo has a complete development of modern
fashionable life, and has long been a most popular
winter resort. The result is that the East and West
are thoroughly commingled, and the sojourning pop-
ulation is widely diversified. In the variety, a
native funeral is among the most curious, the
screeching of the hired mourners having a strange
effect, the corpse, on a bier, being borne behind
them on men's shoulders, and from the pole carried
in front can be ascertained the sex of the deceased.
If a carved or real fez is on the pole, it is a man,
and if it is a woman, the pole is crowned by some-
thing representing a braid of hair. In the wedding
processions the bride is usually carried in a palan-
quin between two ungainly, jerky-motioned camels.
In January a great event is the departure of the
caravan, bearing the " Holy Carpet," to Mecca.
This is a ceremony of diplomatic import, which at-
tracts a great concourse. In the procession, numer-
ous camels bear huge burdens of handsome rugs, for
gifts to tombs in Mecca, and the " Holy Carpet "
itself is a pagoda-like structure, towering high
above the patient, if proud, camel carrying it. The
khedive solemnly places the bridle of this camel in
the hand of its driver, as he starts on the long

CAIRO THE VICTORIOUS 521

journey, and the devout say that when the camel
gives up his sacred load in the Holy City of Mecca
he always sheds tears. In the khedive's receptions
to his officials there is great solemnity of etiquette
observed. They all sit around the walls of the
apartment, with their red turbans and tabouches on
their heads, and coats tightly buttoned. Then they
are handed exquisite Egyptian coffee in wonderfully
made slender cups, having sprinkled among the
filigree tracery diamonds and other precious gems.
The siamboulis who pass around the coffee also have
their coats carefully buttoned, and their unoccupied
hands are pressed against their breasts. This coat-
buttoning and hand-pressure are relics of the old-
time etiquette, when assassination was feared. The
buttoned coat assures the inability to get a dagger
from an inner pocket, and the pressure of the free
hand to the heart is an assurance of good intention.
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, in fine
buildings near the Nile, contains the most inter-
esting and valuable collection of Egyptian antiqui-
ties in the world ; and there is also an attractive
exhibition of art works and curiosities in the Arab
Museum. Among the adjacent watering places are
the khedive's baths at Helouan, which are on the
Mokkatam range of hills, about fifteen miles from
the city. The first spring here was discovered in
the seventh century, being named after Helouan,
who was called the son of Babylon, and the place,

522 THE MEDITERRANEAN

after a long desuetude, became, in the last century,
.a popular resort for invalids seeking relief from its
sulphur waters. The late Khedive Tewfik was de-
voted to its development. Another attractive sub-
urban place on the northern side is the khedive's
summer palace and gardens of Shoobra, reached by
a beautiful shady avenue of sycamores and acacias-.
Five miles away from Cairo is the site of an-
cient Heliopolis, the " City of the Sun," which was
the Hebrew On of the Bible, and the Egyptian An.
On the route is the noble sycamore tree, called the
" Virgin's tree," under which the Holy Family is
said to have rested, on their flight into Egypt.
^Heliopolis existed under the old Empire of Egypt,
and long afterward was a sacerdotal city, to whose
colleges the Greek philosophers came for instruc-
tion by the Egyptian priests. Then it fell into de-
cadence, and now all that remains are the temple
enclosure and the obelisk. There are ruins of
structures within the enclosure, but they are not
ancient, being the remains of a Coptic settlement,
the original Heliopolis having entirely disappeared.
When Strabo was here, he found only ruins and a
desert. There were originally two obelisks, one of
which fell and was broken in two pieces, but long
ago disappeared. The obelisk now standing is the
most ancient in Egypt, a monolith sixty-eight feet
high, bearing the name of Usertesen I, founder of
the twelfth dynasty. All about are tombs, and, in

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 523

fact, it is generally accepted that the Nile Valley,
for sixty miles near and above Cairo, is mostly a
vale of ancient cities and tombs.

Down the Nile, northeast from Cairo, is the bar-
rage, begun by Mehemet Ali in 1835, and com-
pleted under English management, the great dam
which regulates the outflow of the Nile waters over
the delta. Two weir-bridges, about 3,000 feet long,
close the two arms of the river, and more than a
hundred iron sluices regulate the flow of water,
there being swing-bridges, at the extremities of the
weirs, for the passage of boats. Between the two
weirs, an alley of acacias crosses the apex of the
delta, and thus unites the passageways along the
tops of the weirs, while stately Norman gateways
rise in the middle and at the extremity of each,
giving the barrage an imposing appearance. Tow-
ering over all, to the eastward of Cairo, and stretch-
ing far away southward, rises the long ridge of the
Mokkatam mountain, out of which, for ages, the
pharaohs got their building materials, its lime-
stones being used for the pyramids. From its sum-
mit is one of the greatest views obtainable, over the
Nile Valley and its majestic monuments of the
olden time.

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX.

Eight miles from Cairo are the wonderful pyr-
amids of Gizeh, which are regarded as the most

524 THE MEDITERRANEAN

imposing monuments left by the ancient Egyptians.
They can be reached by carriage road and -trol-
ley, by donkey, camel or coach, and the modern
fashionable hotel at their foot bears the name of
Mena, from Menes the founder of the long line of
pharaohs. The great Nile bridge is crossed, and
gradually they rise higher and higher in view, on
the approach. The three pyramids are upon a
plateau of four hundred acres, near the western
bank of the river, and elevated about one hundred
and forty feet above the highest water level, being
not far apart, and standing nearly on a line from
northeast to southwest. Their four sides face the
cardinal points of the compass. The archaeologists
have demonstrated that each pyramid was con-
structed over a sepulchral chamber excavated in the
rock, and that the work was done during the life of
the king for whose tomb it was intended. While
the construction went on, a narrow and low passage-
way was kept open, as the courses of stones were
laid, by which access was had from the outside to
the central chamber. Upon the king's death the
work ceased, and the last layers were then finished
off and the passageway closed. The greater part
of the stone came from the quarries in the Mokkatam
range, across the Nile, and the outside facings were
mostly of red syenitic granite from Assouan, up the
river. The blocks are from two to four or more
feet thick, and arranged one upon the other, form-

THE PYRAMIDS AXD SPHYNX 525

ing steps up the outer slopes, the thickness of the
stones determining the height of these steps.
Nearer the top are the thicker stones, but these
blocks are of moderate length, compared with those
near the base. The foundations were excavated in
the solid rock, and upon this the great stones were
arranged and built up, layer after layer, and one
shell succeeding another, the spaces within being
filled with smaller stones closely packed. To quarry
and move the immense blocks, and raise them to their
places, required no little engineering skill, and in
those days the pharaohs had an unlimited amount
of labor at command.

The visitor, after the usual conflict with donkey
boys and backsheesh-seeking rascals, gets to the base
of the " Great Pyramid " of Cheops, at the north-
eastern angle, where the worn and broken stones
offer the easiest ascent. The steps are said to num-
ber 208, and are about the height of an average
table. A couple of barefooted, nimble Arabs pull
you up by the arms, and for some days afterward
sore muscles remind of the unusual exertion, and
you are very glad when, reaching the top, and resting
upon the twelve large stones composing it, covered
all over with visitors' names, the gorgeous view can
be taken in and the enormous size of the pyramid
realized. This pyramid of Cheops covers nearly
thirteen acres. Its original dimensions have been
considerably reduced by the early Arabs, who removed

526 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the outer portions to furnish building stone for Cairo.
Thus despoiled, the walls lost their smooth surface,
which sloped at an angle of nearly 52°. It was
the stripping off of this outer casing, which left the
stones in their present condition of rugged steps.
Originally, the pyramid was composed of eighty-nine
millions of cubic feet of masonry, and now there are
about eighty-two millions. It is now 450 feet high
and was 479 feet high. The sides are 746 feet long
compared with 764 feet originally. There are over
six millions of tons of stone in the vast structure,
and about 2,300,000 separate blocks. All these had
to be transported across the Nile, and Over the
valley to the plateau, and it was done by slave labor,
mostly captives, and the tillers of the soil, when the
Nile inundation prevented work in the fields. The
pharaohs had unlimited command of labor, and ac-
cording to Herodotus, a hundred thousand men were
employed on this pyramid, during .the three months
of the inundation, and this was continued for twenty
years.

The only entrance to the Great Pyramid is on
the northern face, about fifty feet above the base, a
passage of 33/2 by 4 feet going down a slope at an
angle of 26° 41', for a distance of 321 feet to the
king's sepulchral chamber, and it has been noted
that the observer within, looking out of the passage,
is in line with the North Star. The passage is
extended 52 feet farther into the rock. The cham-

Copyright by Underwood A Underwood

View from the Summit of the Great Pyramid
Eastward over the Valley of the Nile.

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 527

ber is 46 feet long, 27 feet wide, and
high. The entrance passage, after penetrating 63
feet within, the pyramid, connects with an ascending
branch passage, at an angle of 26° going 126 feet,
when its course becomes level, and goes 109 feet
further. This connects with several chambers and
passages, the principal being the queen's chamber,
almost in the centre of the pyramid, and 67 feet
above its base. This chamber is 17 by 19 feet,
and 20 feet high, with a fine groined roof. The
king's chamber is a plain and bare room, lined
with red granite, highly polished, single stones
reaching from the floor to the ceiling, which is
formed of nine large slabs of polished granite,
extending from wall to wall. The sparkle of the
granite in this famous chamber is exhibited in the
darkness, by the flashes of light from burning mag-
nesium wires. It contains only an empty sar-
cophagus of red granite, which is not very inter-
esting. Visitors have scribbled their names all over
the walls. The sarcophagus is so large that it ev-
idently was placed in the room when it was con-
structed, as it could not be brought through the small
entrance passage. The chamber is said to have
originally contained a wooden coffin with the
mummy of the king, which disappeared wrhen the
pyramids were first opened and plundered by the
Arabs. The view from the top of the pyramid is
over the almost level garden of the Nile Valley, as

528 THE MEDITERRANEAN

far as one can see, green and fresh, but bordered
everywhere by the desert. Both north and south
are groups of pyramids and tombs, reminding that
this is one of the greatest burial places in the world.
A short distance north are the -smaller pyramids of
Abu Roasch, of the fourth dynasty, tumbling into
ruin. To the south are the pyramids of Abusir, and
the most ancient of all, the Step Pyramid of
Sakkara, with the Dashur group in the distance, and
others farther away. Here are the vast aggregation
of tombs of kings and princes, priests, nobles and
sacred bulls, with queens' and court ladies, who
ruled the old empire, forty to sixty centuries ago.
At our feet, on the plain, is the battlefield of the
pyramids, where Napoleon's troops repelled and
conquered the Mameluke horsemen. To the east-
ward, the fertile valley is dotted with Arab villages,
the river flowing away, toward the great city,
crowned by the citadel mosque, and the Mokkatam
hills forming the background. To the westward
stretches the vast Lybian desert.

The second pyramid, King Chephren's, appears
larger than the first, because it is built on a base
thirty-three feet higher than that of the Great Pyr-
amid. Originally, its sides measured about 708
feet, and its height was 454 feet, but now the sides
are reduced to 691 feet, and the height to about 447
feet, the angle of slope being 52°. It has two en-
trances, each leading to the same sepulchral chamber

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 529

bj an inclined passage approximating 100 feet in
length. This chamber is about 46 by 16 feet, and
19 feet high, with a pyramidal roof, and contains
a granite sarcophagus. The only remains found
here were of a bull. This pyramid is seldom as-
cended by visitors, as the original stone casing is
intact on the upper portion, and is difficult to climb.
The top platform is much smaller than that of the
Great Pyramid. On April 15, 1905, this pyramid
was struck by lightning, a very rare occurrence here,
and several pieces of stone knocked off the top. The
third pyramid is only 203 feet high and 354 feet
square. The original height was 219 feet. There
is a tradition that one of the Arab caliphs of Egypt
got the idea that an evil spirit dwelt in this pyr-
amid, and he put a large force at work tearing it
down. After laboring three months, he abandoned
the work, and the ruin wrought was so compara-
tively small as to be unnoticeable. Within this
pyramid was found a highly finished sarcophagus,
a mummy case bearing the name of King Menkaura,
its builder, and the body of a workman, the mummy
case and body now being in the British Museum.
While the smallest of the three pyramids, this shows
the best workmanship of all. There are several
smaller pyramids near by, supposed fo have been
tombs of relatives of the kings, and also a vast num-
ber of other sepulchres, some of the tomb-chambers

being built above the surface, some excavated in the
VOL. 11—34

530 THE MEDITERRANEAN

rock, and others in subterranean channels. For
ages, the strong westerly winds that generally pre-
vail here have carried particles of sand from the
desert, and deposited them around the tombs and
pyramids, so that the original base of Cheops is
twenty to thirty feet below the present surface.

Similarly, the sand storms have almost engulfed
the other wonderful monument of ancient Egypt,
the Sphynx, which stands near the pyramids. It
has been repeatedly dug out, but the winds con-
tinually fill up the excavation. From remote an-
tiquity, figures of the Sphynx were used in Egypt
to embellish the avenues forming the approaches to
temples, these figures usually having the head of a
man, with cap and beard, and the body of a lion.
Plutarch recorded that they were placed before the
temples, as types of the mysterious nature of the
deity worshipped there. This great Sphynx at the
pyramids was sculptured before they were built, as
indicated by an inscription. The Egyptians called
it Hor-em-Jchu, or the " Setting Sun," the name of
the god to whom it was dedicated, and this name is
translated by the Greeks as Armachis. It is near
the eastern edge of the plateau on which the pyr-
amids stand, about 300 feet east of the second
pyramid, and its head is turned toward the Nile.
The Arabs call it AbuSl-Hol, the " Father of Ter-
ror." It has suffered vastly from the ravages of
time and vandalism, but is a noble and majestic

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 531

figure. The head, from the top to the chin, meas-
ures 28^ feet, and the body is that of a lion crouch-
ing closely to the ground, and is 146 feet long, meas-
uring 36 feet across the shoulders, the paws
extending about fifty feet in front. These paws are
of masonry, but all the rest of the Sphynx seems to
have been carved out of the solid rock. Between
the paws was built a small temple, and near it was
discovered a larger temple, buried in the sand, and
supposed to have been dedicated to the worship of
the divinity of the Sphynx. The countenance
is now so much mutilated, partly by vandalism,
and partly by the sand blasts, that have blown
for ages across it, that the outline of the features
is only traced with difficulty. The head had
been covered with a cap, of which the lower
part remains, and there was a beard, the frag-
ments having fallen below. Immediately under the
breast stood a granite tablet, containing a repre-
sentation of Thothmes IV, offering incense, and a
libation to the Sphynx, with a long hieroglyphic
inscription reciting the titles of that king and his
labors at the Sphynx. On the paws were inscrip-
tions of the Roman days, expressing adoration of
the Sphynx and of the Egyptian deities.

Several times attempts have been made to solve
the mystery of the Sphynx, which was puzzling the
Egyptians even when the Great Pyramid was built.
Thothmes dug down as far as he was able, so as to

532 THE MEDITERRANEAN

construct the small temple between tlie paws, and
placed there the tablet telling of his work. This
was hidden until 1818, when an English savant
undertook the task of digging, and uncovered the
temple and the inscription, but the hieroglyphics
were a puzzle, until M. Champollion managed to
translate them. The tablet recorded that Thothmes,
before ascending the throne of his ancestor, was
hunting in the neighborhood of the pyramids, and
worn out by the heat and his exertions lay down
in the shadow of the Sphynx, then covered to the
neck with sand, and fell asleep. In his dreams, he
saw the great carved lips of the statue open, and
they spoke to him, calling him son, and saying it
was his father, Hor-em-Jchu; then adding, " The
sands of the desert have covered me; I wish to be
free. Promise me that you will clear the sands
away, and I shall know that you are indeed my son,
and worthy to be the mighty ruler of my people in
the years to come." This led Thothmes to excavate
the Sphynx, and erect the tablet of his achieve-
ments. Pliny recorded that the Sphynx covered a
king's tomb, and to discover this was the object of
the excavation of 1818, but none was found. In
1896, Colonel George E. Eaum, of San Erancisco,
made another attempt to dig out the Sphynx and
employed a hundred men at the work. He cleared
out a hole in the top of the head to seven feet
depth, and excavated a shaft at the back for twenty-

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 533

five feet, finding two passages at the bottom running
respectively northwest and southwest. Then he dug
fifteen feet farther down, finding the bottom
blocked with stones, which the authorities would not
let him remove. Then a German company under-
took to excavate the sand, but they too desisted.
Recently another excavation has begun, under the
auspices of the Egyptian government. Most of the
digging heretofore, has been down the front of the
Sphynx, revealing the massive breast and huge
paws. Nothing has been done to clear away the
sands enclosing the sides, and the winds constantly
add to these, and fill up the pits that are dug, it
being impossible to keep out the drifting sands of the
almost universal desert.

The eminent Egyptian antiquarian, Mariette, was
convinced that the Sphynx was much older than the
Pyramids, and believed that if the space about it
were cleared the lion-statue would be found crouch-
ing in the centre of a great amphitheatre, and gaz-
ing out at the Xile, marking the grave, probably, of
the mighty Menes himself. It was originally col-
ored red, but this long ago was worn off. The
broken nose and mutilated features were due partly
to the vandalism of the Mamelukes, who, to learn to
aim their cannon, when Napoleon came to attack
them, trained the guns upon the Sphynx, and thus
battered and scarred the majestic countenance.

All visitors speak of the solemn weirdness of the

534 THE MEDITERRANEAN

spectacle of Sphinx and pyramids at sunrise and sun-
set. The greatest view of all, however, is when the
full moon, under the bright Egyptian sky, floods them
with light, at once making them harmonious in out-
line and clearer to the eye. The moonbeams veil
the scars of the vandals, the desert becomes beau-
tiful, and the grand spectacle of pyramids and
Sphynx deepens in majesty no less than in mystery.
Henry Howard Brownell, the New England poet,
thus invokes the Sphynx:

They glare — those stony eyes!

That in the fierce sun-rays
Showered from these burning skies,
Through untold centuries

Have kept their sleepless and unwinking gaze.

Those sullen orbs wouldst thou eclipse,
And ope those massy tomb-like lips,
Many a riddle thou couldst solve
Which all blindly men revolve.

Would she but tell! She knows
Of the old pharaohs,
Could count the Ptolemies' long linej
Each mighty myth's original hath seen
Apis, Anubis — ghosts that haunt between

The Bestial and Divine —
(Such, He that sleeps in Philse — He that stands

In gloom, unworshipped, 'neath his rock-hewn fane —
And they, who, sitting on Memnonian sands,

Cast their long shadows o'er the desert plain:)
Hath marked Nitocris pass,
And Ozymandias.

Deep-versed in many a dark Egyptian wile;
The Hebrew boy hath eyed

THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHYNX 535

Cold to the master's bride;

And that Medusan stare hath frozen the smile
Of her all love and guile

For whom the Csesar sighed,

And the World-Loser died —
The Darling of the Nile.

A VOYAGE ON THE NILE

XV,
A VOYAGE ON THE NILE

Bedrashan — Memphis — the Serapeum — Sakkara — Tombs and
Mastabas — Medum — the Fayoum — Birket el Keroon — Bahr
Yosef — Lake Moeris — The Shadoof and Sakiyeh — Gebel-et-
Ter — Minyeh — Beni-Hasan — Roda — Antinoe — Tell-el-Amarna
— Gebel Abulfeda — Monfalut — Maabdeh — Assiout — Baliana —
Abydos — Nag Hamadi — Hou — Denderah — Keneh — Thebes —
Luxor — Karnak — Kurna — Tombs of the Kings — Der-el-Bahri
— Medinet Habu — Tombs of the Queens — the Ramesseum —
the Vocal Memnon— Esne— El Kab— Edfu— Silsileb— Kom
Ombo — Assouan — the First Cataract — Elephantine — the Great
Dam — the Quarries — Grenfell's Tombs — Philae — Kalabsheh —
Korosko — Abu Simbel — Wady Haifa — the Second Cataract —
Abousir — Semneh — Atbara — Khartoum — Omdurman — A King
in Egypt.

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL.

And now the winds that southward blow

Bear me away! I see below

The long line of the Libyan Nile;

Osiris, holding in his hand

The lotus; Isis, crowned and veiled;

The sacred Ibis, and the Sphynx;

Lamps that perchance their night-watch kept

O'er Cleopatra while she slept,

All plundered from the tombs of kings.

Thus wrote Longfellow, as he contemplated the
wonders that are disclosed by a journey up the
539

540 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Nile. The most satisfactory way of making a
survey of the interesting remains surviving from
ancient Egypt is by a voyage on the great river.
A railway has been constructed up the Nile Valley,
and the modern sleeping car will take the hurried
traveller from Cairo to Luxor (Thebes), 454 miles,
in a night, the railway going a hundred miles far-
ther on to the great dam at Assouan and beyond.
But the leisurely river voyage is the plan for the
tourist. It can be made on one of the river steamers
or on a native dahabeali , or house-boat, which halts
or moves at will. As the journey progresses, stops
are made at the various places of interest, and all
the attractions and wonders of old and new Egypt
can be examined. Months may be occupied on the
voyage if desired. The Nile is almost without
storms, and is seldom rough. From winter to early
summer, the north wind almost steadily blows, with
enough force to drive a sailing boat against the
gentle current, and at the same time this same cur-
rent will drift the boat northward, against the wind,
excepting when it blows a gale. The ddlidbeah has
one great lateen sail, attached to a yard of enor-
mous length, and on a high deck over the cabins,
provided with easy chairs, and usually decorated
with plants and flowers, the tourist company enjoys
the outlook over the river and its shores. As mod-
ern science has developed the motor-boat, its powers
are now brought into use, so that all kinds of craft

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 541

are availed of for the river voyage and the traveller
may choose that which pleases him best.

The sparkling Xile is full of life and movement,
a busy river carrying a vast trade. But it is a
peculiar river, and unlike any other in the world,
there being neither picnic grounds, nor shady nooks,
nor pretty villages along its banks. Its valley . is
bordered, on either hand, by bare yellow hills, where
irrigation has not yet converted the desert into a
garden, as on the lower surfaces. There are many
spots of green, groups of palms, and clusters of
Arab huts. The women come down to the shore
and fill their goolahs, which are heavy earthen jars,
with water, carrying the goolah home poised on their
heads. Bronzed men toil at the rude shadoofs, by
which water is lifted on long poles, with jars on
the ends, and emptied into troughs above, to supply
the irrigation ditches, the men singing as they work,
under the unchecked rays of the burning sun.
Swinging camels pass along with their swaying
riders. Boatmen glide over the water in all direc-
tions, the lovely blue sky arching over them. Peli-
cans stand in the sand, or manosuvre gracefully in
the air, and kingfishers dart under the wave, to
seize the passing fish. The crocodile used to be in
evidence, but is not now, excepting far off in the
upper waters. When the ancient Nile shores were
lined with reeds and papyrus, he was here, but all
have disappeared in the development of cultivation

542 THE MEDITERRANEAN

on the river banks. And as the voyage progresses,
there are added the splendid dawns and gorgeous
sunsets, that make so much of the charm of
Nile scenery, in its unclouded glory. The whole
sky, from zenith to horizon, becomes a sea of color
and fire, reflected in each crimson wave and ripple,
the gorgeous display at sunset going gradually off
to the west, and being followed by a softer sheen,
overspreading the eastern hills, until dark night
comes to end the charming spectacle.

Thus we come, on the upper river voyage, to the
village of Bedrashan, fifteen miles above Cairo, on
the western shore, and landing take the customary
donkey ride, to view the site of ancient Memphis,
now mostly heaps of sand and mounds of rubbish.
This was the first capital, and the greatest city of
Egypt, from the days of the founder, Menes, until
superseded by the growing power of Thebes, and
it continued to be the largest city until Alexandria
eclipsed it. The name comes from Md-en^ptah, the
" abode of Ptah," being called in the Coptic dia-
lect, Manfi, " the abode of the Good One " supposed
to refer to Osiris, and in the Scriptures it is de-
scribed as Naph or Noph. Its situation commanded
the southern entrance to the delta, and it was pro-
tected by a dyke from the Nile inundations. Dio-
dorus described Memphis as remarkable for its fine
climate and the beauty of the view from its walls,
which were seventeen miles in circuit. It controlled

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 543

all the trade of the Xile, was the chief seat of
early learning and religion, the principal place of
the worship of Ptah, and the official residence of
the sacred bull Apis, whose temple here was cele-
brated for the grand colonnades, through which
elaborate religious processions were conducted.
The other great temples at Memphis were that of
Isis, commenced at a very early period and com-
pleted in the sixth century B. C., the Temple of
Serapis, the Temple of Ra, the sun-god, and the
Temple of Ptah, the most ancient of all and the
largest and most elaborate. Memphis was the seat
of the eight earliest Egyptian dynasties, the fourth
being the builders of the pyramids, and it was also
the capital during the supremacy of the Shepherd
Kings. It suffered severely from the Persians, who
savagely avenged the murder of their herald by the
Memphians, Cambyses compelling Psammetik III,
the king, to kill himself, slaying the sacred bull
Apis with his own hand, massacring the priests,
and profaning the Temple of Ptah. It was made
the Persian capital of their African possessions, and
continued for centuries the chief city, until Alex-
andria took its trade and it then gradually declined.
In the course of ages, Memphis sank into such
utter decay that its site, overwhelmed by the drift-
ing sands, became a subject of dispute. Its iden-
tity was thus completely lost, when in 1850 the
distinguished savant, Auguste Edouard Mariette,

544 THE MEDITERRANEAN

was sent by the French government to Egypt, and
after a study of the situation became the modern
discoverer of Memphis. He excavated the site, and
found the Serapeum, the Temple of Serapis, which
had been described by Strabo. This great structure
of granite and alabaster contained, within its en-
closure, the sarcophagi of the sacred bulls of Apis
from the nineteenth dynasty to the time of the
Roman occupation before the death of Cleopatra.
The uncovered remains extend over a large surface,
with ruins of temples and palaces, two thousand
sphynxes in the long avenues, several thousand
statues, reliefs and inscriptions, and many other sur-
vivals of the vast ancient city. Mariette made other
important Egyptian explorations at Thebes and
elsewhere, was the founder of the museum at Cairo,
and in its grounds his body rests. In more recent
excavations at Memphis, by the archaeologist, Pro-
fessor Flinders Petrie, there have been disclosed the
" foreign quarter " of the city, with heads of for-
eigners modeled in terra cotta, showing by their
portraiture that various neighboring and even dis-
tant races came to Egypt. There are figures and
portraitures of Persian princes, Scythian horse-
men, Greeks, Cossacks, Syrians and East Indians
from Asia. This discloses the far-reaching foreign
intercourse of the dynasties of ancient Memphis.
In 1909, the work of the British School of Ar-
chaeology uncovered the palace of King Apries, the

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 545

Biblical Pharaoh Hophra of the sixth and seventh
centuries B. C., who was contemporary with Jere-
miah. It was 400 by 200 feet, with walls fifteen
feet thick, and columns forty feet high, and sur-
rounded a- quadrangle, with interior court a hun-
dred feet square. There were found in the ruins
bronze figures of the gods, chiefly of Hathor, and
scale armor.

The donkey ride of the modern visitors soon
brings them to the grand but prostrate statue of
Rameses II, lying among the palms and gazing up
to the sky, while a short distance farther on is a
still larger recumbent Rameses, surrounded and
almost covered by a mud hut. The first statue is
Sl1/^ feet long, including the crown, and the other
is 42 feet long, a powerful figure, carefully and
minutely carved, the enclosing hut being constructed
to protect it from the mutilating tourist. Both
of these colossal figures have a remarkable likeness
to the mummy of the great Rameses, which is in
the museum at Cairo. The mummy is that of a
tall man with gray hair, thin beard and pierced ears,
and it lies peacefully at rest. This famous pha-
raoh, the builder of temples and maker of an-
cient Egyptian history, has his lips firmly closed
and his hands folded across his breast, the high
forehead and strong nose testifying his capa-
bilities. These two statues above mentioned orig-
inally stood together at the entrance of the Temple
VOL. 11—35

546 THE MEDITERRANEAN

of Ptah. There is not much else left of the once
famous city, because the Arabs carried about all the
available stone down the Nile to build Fostat and
Cairo.

The wondering tourist passes on, through a flat
country, bordered by desert hills, and with nearly
a dozen pyramids in sight, to the Arab village of
Sakkara, the name now given to the vast cemetery,
which was, during centuries, the burial place for
Memphis. This great necropolis, spreading far
along the Nile, was the place of interment of the
people for at least five thousand years, and is
thought to have been the sepulchre of at least
seventy-five millions. Most of them are only buried
in the sand, but all the great people had tombs, and
of these there are interesting survivals, seen for
many miles. The most famous of all, next to the
three great pyramids, is the noted Step Pyramid
of Sakkara, the tomb of King Zeser, the second
pharaoh of the third dynasty, built about 4400
B. C., and believed to be the oldest structure in the
world. It was a venerable affair when Cheops be-
gan his pyramid. It rises in five huge steps to a
comparatively small apex, but is gradually crum-
bling in ruin. Originally it was a rectangle of
351 feet by 393 feet, and in its present ruinous
condition it rises about 190 feet from the desert.
When it was explored the mummies of kings and
Apis bones were found inside. At Dashour, not

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 547

far away, is a group of five pyramids, two built of
stone and three of rough brick. The largest of
the former is now reduced to a height of 326 feet,
and the base is about 700 feet square. At Abousir
are fourteen pyramids, most of them small and lit-
tle more than heaps of rubbish, only two being over
one hundred feet high. Under American auspices,
an expedition from the Metropolitan Museum of
New York is excavating the two pyramids of Ilsht,
about thirty-five miles south of Cairo, one being
the pyramid of Amenemhat I, and the other of his
son, Usertesen I, of the twelfth dynasty. The
French began the work on the latter, and much of
the mortuary temples of the pyramids, facing the
Nile, has been uncovered.

This universal expanse of tombs, for miles along
the Nile, impresses the visitor with the peculiarities
of the Egyptian idea of death and burial. They
believed in the life of the soul beyond the grave, and
that the living man was made up of four separate
parts, all united while he lived. These were, the
human body; the double, called Ka; the soul Ba;
and the Khu or " luminous spark," an emanation
from the divinity. The Ka was a sort of spiritual
body, much like the real body, bound to the body
during life, never leaving it, and remaining with
the mummy in the tomb after death. In the sculp-
tures it is represented as naked, and with its own
peculiar sign, two uplifted arms above the head.

548 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Ka required food and drink, which had to
be provided by the living. Thus, while the mummy
and Ka remained in the tomb, the Ba and the Khu
went to the regions of the gods, but visited the
mummy and Ka at intervals, and as they were to
return to the body, in the distant future, therefore
its preservation was necessary. Hence the em-
balming of the mummy. The earliest mummy
known dates from 3450 B. C., and is in the Brit-
ish Museum, while the process of embalming the
mummies continued until Christianity prevailed in
Egypt, during the fourth century of our era.
There were various processes of this embalming,
the most expensive being used for the kings, while
the poor had only cheap methods, but all tried, as
far as possible, to preserve the body, so that the soul
might some day return to it, and to this purpose
they devoted their savings. The best preserved
mummies are those from Thebes, three thousand
years old, but some, only recently discovered, upon
exposure to the air, decomposed, and had to be
buried.

The Egyptian believed, that while his life on
earth was short, his existence in the tomb would
practically be endless. Hence the tomb was re-
garded as his actual home, and was constructed to
meet his requirements after death. The elaborate
tomb is in three parts — the public rooms, the pri-
vate apartments of the Ka and mummy, and a

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 549

connecting corridor. The family and friends came
to the public rooms at the funeral, and at various
times afterward, and brought their food offerings
for the Ka. These rooms were usually above
ground, or on the side of a cliff, being well lighted,
and ornamented with scenes from the life of the
dead man, so that the Ka would be reminded of
his worldly existence. In the early empire tombs
at Memphis, the corridor and mummy chamber were
usually bare, though occasionally there were decora-
tions in the chamber, and religious inscriptions.
These tombs, originally having their public rooms
in brick or stone temples or other structures above
ground, are now buried deep down in the drifting
sands, which have blown over them for ages. The
place looks like a city, and at Sakkara, the assem-
blages of tomb-houses stretch for fifteen miles along
the Nile. In the later cemeteries, of the present
time, the house is built over the grave as in former
days, and the family and friends come, as before,
at certain periods, to pray for and live with their
dead ones. These little tomb-houses are called
Mastabas, meaning a bench, from which it is de-
rived, as in the case of a bench outside a building.
Ptah, the chief deity of Memphis, had the sacred
bull Apis as his representative, who, after death,
had his spirit united with Osiris, being then called
Oserapis, or Serapis. Hence, there is the aggre-
gation of Apis tombs in the Serapeum, uncovered

550 THE MEDITERRANEAN

by Marietta, the earliest being buried in the reign
of Amenhotep III, about 1400 B. 0., and the last
known Apis living in the fourth century of our
era, when this worship ceased. The Apis tomb,
now most accessible, is a spacious apartment, open-
ing into a long subterranean gallery, with large
chambers on either hand, containing twenty-four-
huge sarcophagi, each weighing at least sixty tons.
The Mastaba of Ptah-hotep, a priest of the fifth
dynasty, is very interesting. Its mural decorations
are marvellous, and the colors bright, though six
thousand years old. The subjects are taken from
the daily life of the deceased, showing the animals
and fowls, the customs, trades, agriculture, ships
and ceremonies of his time, these being displayed
that the Ka might see in the tomb-chamber the
scenes he was familiar with in life. Ptah-hotep is
said to have been the author of the oldest book in
the world, the Proverbs of Ptah-hotep, a copy, dat-
ing from 2600 B. C., and believed the oldest book
existing, being in the Paris National Library,
though this copy was made from an earlier book.
He lived to the age of 115 years, filled many high
offices, and in his closing years wrote this book of
moral precepts. Another interesting tomb is that
of Ti, a man of humble origin, who became a royal
architect, attained the highest rank, married a
pharaoh's daughter, and had his children called
princes. The well-preserved sculptures and decora-

THE FAYOUM 551

tions represent his daily life; his servants are work-
ing in the fields, preparing food or attending animals
and birds ; handicraftsmen are at their daily toil ; and
Ti, in different representations, is hunting, sailing,
receiving presents and going through his daily
round of business or pleasure. Thus the exca-
vated Memphis, and the Sakkara tombs, give the
exhibition of the old Egyptian capital, and the life
and death scenes of its earliest people. As the
descent is made, from the desert plateau, to return
to the landing place, there is presented a most beau-
tiful landscape of the Nile, its green and yellow
bordering fields and palm-groves, the deep river
valley, and across it, the Mokkatam range, closing
the view, with the distant pyramids, and far away
the graceful minarets of Mehemet Ali, crowning
the citadel, down at Cairo.

THE FAYOTJM.

Slowly voyaging along the Xile, occasionally
fetching up on a sand bank, stopping to go ashore
and see the antiquities, exploring the great river,
between its green valley shores and the distant bor-
der of yellow desert hills, the visitor takes in the
sights of Egypt. Soon comes in view the old pyra-
mid of Medum, built by King Snefru of the third
dynasty, and called by the Arabs Haram-el-Kaddab
or the " false pyramid." It is constructed in three
courses, like so many huge steps, tapering toward

552 THE MEDITERRANEAN

the top, and rises about 230 feet. It has a tem-
ple on the eastern side, connected by an open court,
in which there yet stands an altar. Many tombs
accompany it, antedating Sakkara tombs, but much
of them and its own environment is buried in the
sands. This place has produced numerous treasures
for the museum at Cairo, and the inscriptions are
made in the earliest hieroglyphics, the oldest Egyp-
tian writings. A short distance above is the town
of Beni Suef, the port of the fertile district of the
Fayoum, to the westward. The Lybian hills,
bounding the river valley on that side, here bend
around to the west and the north, about forty
miles southwest of Cairo, and thus enclose an oval
valley, which stretches forty miles to the westward,
and widens to thirty miles breadth, being so fertile
that it supports a population of 150,000. The
name comes from the Coptic word Phioum meaning
" the waters." The basin thus formed has only
one opening, eastward toward the Nile, and it grad-
ually slopes both toward the north and the south,
the northern depression being occupied by the
Birket el Keroon, thus named from its shape, " the
lake of the horn." This lake is thirty miles long
and about six miles across in the widest portion,
the shores being mostly bluffs, excepting on the
southern side, where they are low and sandy. It
has an outlet to the Nile, and also communicates
with the Bahr Yosef, the " Canal of Joseph," an

THE FAYOUM 553

ancient waterway coming from Assiout, many
miles up the river, that is used for irrigation, and
was the inlet to the Lake Moeris, which the early
pharaohs used as a reservoir for the Nile, with
which this lake has often been identified. Herodo-
tus, writing of Lake Moeris, described it as of thirty-
six hundred furlongs circumference, and fifty
fathoms depth, being an artificial excavation, as
nearly in the centre stood two pyramids, rising
three hundred feet above the water, each crowned
with a colossal statue upon a throne. He added
that the water of the lake did not come out of the
ground, which was here exceedingly dry, but was
introduced by a canal from the Nile, the current
for six months flowing into the lake from the river,
and then changing so that for the next six months
it flowed into the river from the lake. He ascribed
its formation to King Moeris, living about 1350 B.
C. and identified with Amenhotep III.

The natural lake Birket el Keroon was con-
founded by the old historian, as by many others,
with the artificial Lake Moeris. During the Nile
inundations the two would appear practically as
one, Moeris being in practice an extensive reservoir
secured by dams, and communicating by canals with
all parts of the Fayoum, its object being to regulate
the water supply. Thus, for many centuries, this
district has been thoroughly irrigated, so that it is
remarkably fertile, producing grain, cotton, fruits,

554 THE MEDITERRANEAN

and an abundance of roses, its rose water being
famous and sold all over Egypt. The chief town
is Medinet el Fayoum, the ancient Arsenoi, and
also called Crocodilopolis. Herodotus described as
existing here a wonderful labyrinth, which had three
thousand rooms, half of them underground, and all
connected by intricate passages, and there still sur-
vive near it, several broken columns of red granite,
carved in old Egyptian style, supposed to mark the
site. There are also two huge stone pedestals, called
" Pharaoh's Feet," and various statues and other
relics, including a syenite obelisk, forty-three feet
high, covered with sculptures. The Temple of
Kasr Keroon is about three miles from the lake,
evidently a Roman work, and nearly a hundred feet
long and forty feet high.

As one glides gently upon the Nile the thought
becomes impressive that it is unlike any other river
in the world. For over a thousand miles in this
almost rainless region neither tributary nor cloud
adds to its water supply, and yet the dry desert air,
the hot suns, and numberless water carriers, sha-
doofs, sakiyehs, ditches and canals, are constantly
taking water away. Thus the volume of the cur-
rent here is much less than it is hundreds of miles
higher up, toward the south, until the inundations
come in June, with their almost machine-like reg-
ularity. Then the swelling flood brings general
rejoicing, unlike the deluge overflows in other riv-

THE FAYOUM 555

ers, that cause alarm and damage. The rich coat-
ing of mud, when the flood subsides, gives the lux-
uriant fertility to the land, that needs no other
stimulant, and the people celebrate the inundations
with universal festivity. The Nile, however, does
not present what may be regarded as beautiful
scenery, though it is very interesting, largely
through the modes of life exhibited by the people on
its banks, and on the strip of green surface on either
hand, enclosed by the distant yellow hills border-
ing the valley.

The atmosphere in its extreme dryness is very
charming, giving a soft outline to the view of far
off objects, and decorating those barren yellow cliffs
with a tinge of pink, and the fields with brilliant
green or gold. As the boat moves along, the primi-
tive methods of water carrying are exhibited. The
women poise the dripping goolahs upon their erect
heads, and mounting the steep bank, carry them off
to the adjacent mud-hut village. The long-poled
shadoof, with bucket on end, is lowered and raised
by the brown-skinned patient and half-naked fellah
in exactly the same way his ancestors have done
since the days of the pharaohs. Where the bluff
shore is high, these shadoof poles are placed in
series, sometimes three or four, up the bank, each
with an attendant, one raising the water to the
other, until at the top it is poured out into the
little channel, carrying it over the soil to which it

556

gives life. There is also exhibited along the shore
the more elaborate but very rude sakiyeh, of the
wealthier farmers, who are able to employ camel
or buffalo power, to lift the water, by the huge
wooden wheels, having earthen jugs tied at the rims,
these machines creaking mournfully or screeching
shrilly as the patient animal, his eyes covered with
blinders made of mud, treads around and turns the
wheel. There has been no appreciable change in
this clumsy mechanism, since the time of the great
Rameses. They are not oiled, because the blinded
cattle would stop if the noise ceased.

Thus the Egyptian fellah of to-day plods on, be-
ing utterly oblivious of modern improvements and
satisfied to continue in the ways of his fathers.
He is content to draw his tribute from the Nile,
and Ganon Eawnsley has put the operation into
rhyme :

All through the day the red-brown man

Stands on his perch in the red-brown bank;

Waters never more gratefully ran,

Cucumbers never more greedily drank.

Rough clout upon his stately head,

The stately camel round doth go,

With gentle, hesitating tread;

And yoked, and blind with frontlets, made

Of black Nile mud, the buffalo

Plies with him his unequal trade.

The little villages, intersected by crooked pas-
sageways, on which the mud huts abut in irregular

THE FAYOUM 557

groups, sometimes are enriched by the appearance
of a whitewashed mosque. Many feluccas, the
freighters of the country, float on the water, or
ground on the sand bars, as they carry along the
produce, sugar-cane, cotton, grain, hay and fruits,
with sometimes pottery and many water jugs. The
navigation is very tortuous and uncertain, and al-
most every vessel at times gets stranded on the
shifting shoals, and then the Arab sailors jump into
the water, and try to push it afloat, accompanying
the effort with melancholy chants and strange
outcries and earnest calling upon Allah for help.
Sugar factories are passed, where the industry is
active under modern European direction, controlled
by the French Sucreries Company. At one of
these the eastern hills come closely to the shore,
forming the Gebel-et-Ter, or " Mountain of the
Bird," for here, the Arab legend says, the birds
once a year assemble from all parts of the country,
to settle various important matters, and when they
disperse, they leave one on guard until the next
assemblage. Upon the summit is the Coptic walled
village and convent of " Our Lady Mary." At one
hundred and sixty miles from Cairo is the large
town of Minyeh, which has sugar factories, a busy
market and much trade. So prolific are the lands
in this rich Nile Valley, that they are valued at $200
to $500 per acre, and fetch an annual rental of $20
to $50 per acre.

558 THE MEDITERRANEAN

BENT-HASAN" TO DEOSTDERAH.

A few miles farther is Beni-Hasan, on the
eastern bank, noted for its rock-tombs and temples,
and here all hands go ashore for an exploration and
the usual preliminary skirmish with the donkey
boys. The tombs are on a terrace, about 200 feet
higher than the river, and were made in the eleventh
and twelfth dynasties, about 2700 B. C., at the
beginning of the Middle Empire and in the revival
of the Egyptian arts. There are thirty-nine tombs,
and most of them have been damaged. The Specs
Artemidos is a small rock-temple, dedicated to the
lion-headed goddess Pasht, to whom the cat was
sacred, and consequently there is a large cat ceme-
tery. This was built much later, about 1500 B.
C., by Thothmes III and Queen Hatasu, and some
two hundred years afterward Seti put his name
upon it in various places. This temple was never
entirely completed. These tombs consist of mummy
pits, and the large funeral chamber, excavated in
the rock, and decorated with scenes from the lives
of the dead. The most famous tomb is that of
Ameni, having four sixteen-edged columns of Doric
style, called Proto-Doric, indicating to architects
that Egyptian builders had this art twenty cen-
turies before those of Greece. Khnemhotep's tomb
has interesting paintings, one having a statue of the
deceased, being brought to the burial, escorted by

BENI-HASAN TO DENDERAH 559

dancing girls, and another representing a Bedouin
deputation bringing him an offering, these people
being richly dressed. Kheti's tomb exhibits lotus
columns with closed bud capitals. One of these
tombs in the early Christian period was used as a
church. In the decorations of the chambers are
representations of birds and animals, hunting scenes,
models of galleys, with slaves at the oars, agricul-
tural and other industries, bread baking, beer-brew-
ing and drinking, boat races, and pictures of all
classes of people.

At Roda, above Beni-Hasan, is the khedive's
large sugar factory, and inland, on the opposite
shore, are the ruins of Antinoe. Here the Em-
peror Hadrian, in the second century, built in mem-
ory of his favorite, Antinous, the city of Antinop-
olis, to mark his gratitude for the handsome young
man's sacrifice. A great misfortune had been pre-
dicted by the oracle of Besa, near by, as in store
for the emperor, unless his best friend was immo-
lated, and to fulfill the prediction Antinous drowned
himself in the Kile. The emperor was almost
inconsolable, and besides building the city he or-
dered a newly observed star to be called by his name.
Antinous was also deified, mysteries in his honor
being celebrated, and statues of him were erected
at various places in the empire. These ruins are of
the Koman time, mostly of tombs and the foun-
dations of private houses and of streets, everything

560 THE MEDITERRANEAN

else having disappeared. The tombs, however, have
yielded many interesting " finds," among them, the
paraphernalia of the sorceress Myrithis, including
her gorilla skin, mystic lamps, magic papyrus, tam-
bourine, and complicated mirror of various faces,
all of which, with the yellow clothed mummy, have
been transferred to the museum. Some distance
above, on the eastern bank, is Tell-el-Amama,
where are the ruins of the heretic King Amenhotep
IVs Palace of Haggi Kandil, and in the cliffs to
the eastward of the river plain, a series of rock-
tombs. We are told that the power of the priests
of Ammon, at Thebes, over his father, Amenhotep
III, had become irksome, and through the inspira-
tion of Teie, his mother, he inclined to the worship
of the sun-god of Heliopolis, so that. the son, after
his accession, cast aside Ammon and all the Theban
deities and priests, changed his name to Akh-en-
Aten, meaning the " splendor of the sun's disk,"
abandoned Thebes as the capital, and brought his
court here, where he established a new capital and
palace. After eighteen years' reign, Amenhotep
IV was killed, and, leaving no sons, the husband of
his oldest daughter succeeded. The new king
abandoned Tell-el-Amarna in a short time, and it
declined in importance, being deserted soon after-
ward. Then the priests of Ammon came back into
power and overthrew the new religion. It was
here, in 1888, that a fellah woman, searching for

BENI-HASAN TO DENDERAH 561

relics, found the heap of clay tablets, inscribed with
the cuneiform characters of Assyria and Babylonia,
which caused such a sensation among archaeologists.
They were despatches sent by the governors of
Syrian, Palestinean and Mesopotamian towns to
the Amenhoteps, their Egyptian sovereigns, giving
a complete statement of the history and conditions
of that time. Further researches uncovered Amen-
hotep's palace site, the excavations showing beau-
tiful mosaic pictures on the floors. The tombs in
the cliffs display sculptures and paintings devoted
to the sun-god, the king's tomb being isolated in a
lonely valley. These cliffs approach closely to the
river, higher up, making the white limestone prom-
ontory of the Gebel Abulfeda, where the winds blow
wildly at times, to the discomfiture of the boatmen.

Monfalut is another Arab port on the Xile shore,
which has some trade, and near by, at Maabdeh, in
the hills to the westward, are the noisome caverns,
where, in the ancient Egyptian animal worship, the
priests and attendants were buried with the sacred
crocodiles in their charge, and the mummies of the
men and reptiles have been found together.

The wayward river bends in graceful curves, as the
vessel approaches Assiout, its minarets and domes
having the sun shining upon them. Here is a great
barrage or dam, controlling the river's flow, and
just above it, the entrance to the Bahr Yosef, or

" Joseph's Canal," the important work which flows
VOL. 11—36

562 THE MEDITERRANEAN

through, the western plain, an artificial river pro-
viding irrigation, and two hundred miles northward
terminates in the Eayoum, where it furnishes the
chief water supply. Nobody knows who first con-
structed this canal, and tradition assigns it to
Joseph of the Bible, hence the name. Assiout is
254 miles up the river from Cairo, and is the largest
city of the interior of Egypt, having about fifty
thousand population. Formerly, the great caravan
route from the Soudan came here, and goods were
transshipped to Nile boats, but this trade has de-
clined, with the changing routes, though Assiout
is seeking other methods of traffic, and has a large
European mercantile colony, who have erected
handsome modern buildings. There is the usual
bazaar, with the customary noisy Arab solicitation
and bargaining, and as the original Assiout was
very ancient, there are old tombs in the limestone
hills, at the back of the town, appearing much like
those of Beni-Hasan, and being of the same date.
Among the novel sculptures and pictures found are
representations of soldiers, some of these having
been transferred to the museum at Cairo. Hermits
lived in these tombs, in the early Christian periods,
among them the Reverend John of Lykopolis, to
whom Theodosius sent an embassy, to inquire the
outcome of a war then waging, and the hermit told
him to come on, for a bloody but certain victory.
A visit to these tombs is repaid by the charming

BENI-HASAN TO DENDERAH 563

view from the hill top, over the pleasant town, sur-
rounded by green fields and palm groves, and the
far extending Nile Valley. This long stretch of
delicious green, for so many miles on both sides of
the famous river, has been described by Dean
Stanley as " unbroken save by the mud villages
which here and there lie in the midst of the verdure,
and are like the marks of a soiled foot on a rich car-
pet,"

The Nile, above Assiout, stretches in long and
winding course toward the southeast. Here are the
dairy regions of Tahta and Tema, the sugar fields
of Abutig, Girgeh with its freshly excavated ruins
of a temple of Rameses, and the Arab town of
Baliana, hot and unattractive in itself, but having
a very lively set of donkey boys, as the visiting
party find, when they go ashore to take the trip for
about eight miles west of the Nile to explore the
interesting remains of Abydos. This venerable
city is about 350 miles from Cairo, and the ride to
it goes through an interesting region of rich agri-
cultural development. Abydos was the birthplace
of the great Henes, the burial place of the head of
Osiris, and in its time of greatest prosperity be-
came the second city of the Thebaid. It was a holy
city, and has a famous necropolis, there being
tombs built in all ages. Its chief remains are of
the Temple of Osiris, constructed by Eameses, and
the palace of Memnon, by Seti, while, in the adja-

564 THE MEDITERRANEAN

cent hills, are the ancient tombs. At present it is
in charge of the monks of the Coptic convent of
Anba Musa. The Rameses Temple of Osiris has
been almost destroyed, but enough exists to show
that it was a building of great splendor, the door-
ways being of fine granite, the columns of sand-
stone, and the sanctuary lined with alabaster. In it
was found, in the early part of the nineteenth cen-
tury, the noted " tablet of Abydos " or " Rameses
tablet," now in the British Museum, upon which
the inscribed hieroglyphics give the genealogy of
the eighteenth dynasty of the pharaohs. In sub-
sequent explorations there was found a second
tablet, called the " Sethos tablet," more complete
than the other, which contains sixty-five shields, and
an uninterrupted record of the pharaohs of the
first three dynasties, beginning with Menes. These
discoveries were most important, in connexion with
the researches into the remotest Egyptian era.

Seti's palace is much larger, and was called the
Memnonium by Strabo, having been visited and
admired by numerous Roman travellers in his time.
The first court of this palace has disappeared, and
the second only has part of the walls standing.
From this is entered a hypostyle hall, divided into
seven sections, and opening into a second hypostyle
hall, which is both higher and wider, this being the
work of Seti, the courts and outer hall having been
constructed by Rameses. There are admirable re-

BENI-HASAN TO DtfXDERAH 565

liefs on the north wall, considered among the best
in Egypt, the chief representation being of Seti
offering an image of Maat, the goddess of justice
and truth, to Osiris. This palace was devoted to
seven deities, and the seven sections of the outer
hypostyle hall open into seven sanctuaries in the
inner hall each having been for a separate divinity.
The centre was for Ammon, while, on the one hand,
are the sanctuaries of Osiris, Isis and Horus, and
on the other, those of Harmakhis, Ptah and the
deified Seti. In the south wTing is a gallery, with
the list of kings beginning with Menes. Seti did
not include all, but only those he regarded with
favor, as the most prominent, and it contains sev-
enty-six names, ending with his own, thus chrono-
logically recording the rulers of Egypt in a list
made thirty centuries ago. Among the oldest
tombs at Abydos are a group of ten brick construc-
tions, ascribed to the period immediately preceding
Menes, when there was a dynasty of ten kings, who
were buried here, and evidently made this a sort of
prehistoric capital, anterior to Memphis. The in-
teresting relics found in them are now in the Cairo
Museum.

The railway, which has come along the plain
on the western bank of the Nile, all the way from
Cairo, turns to the eastward a short distance above
Baliana, crosses by a fine steel drawbridge to the
eastern bank, and keeping close to the shore,

566 THE MEDITERRANEAN

goes over toward Denderah. The crossing is at
Hamadi, where there is another large sugar factory.
A little way on is the holy village of Hou, the tomb
of the devout Sheikh Selim, who is highly rever-
enced by the Egyptian sailors. He was a pious
devotee, who for fifty-three years sat naked here on
the river bank, praying and praising, and guiding
the vessels, until his soul was called to the Moslem
paradise. Beyond is the great temple of Den-
derah, on the southwestern bank, and again the
donkey procession goes from the landing place a
short distance inland to the site. This is one of
the famous Egyptian temples, its antiquities being
very interesting and well preserved. It was an-
ciently called Tentyra, a magnificent temple, en-
closed, with some other structures, in a space about
one thousand feet square, surrounded by a wall of
sun-dried bricks, fifteen feet thick and thirty-five
feet high. It was dedicated to the goddess Hathor,
and a great deal of excavation has been done, to
get down to its base, in the mountains of sand that
have accumulated all about. The route into the
enclosure goes down a narrow lane in the sand heaps,
and then a flight of steps is descended to the im-
posing vestibule. A richly sculptured gateway
faces the temple, in the enclosing wall, on which
the Roman Emperors Domitian and Trajan are
represented, in the act of worship, their names
being in the inscriptions. The portico is about 135

BENI-HASAN TO DENDERAH 567

feet wide, and composed of twenty-four columns,
arranged in four rows, each thirty-two feet high and
nearly twenty-two feet in circumference. The cap-
itals, on each of the four sides, have the full face of
the presiding divinity, and the architrave, like the
portal, has sculptures representing a religious pro-
cession. Upon the projecting fillet of the cornice
is an inscription, in Greek, stating that the portico
was added to the temple in the reign of Tiberius
CaBsar, in honor of the goddess Aphrodite, who be-
came, under Roman influence, the successor of
Hathor, as the Egyptian Venus.

Denderah was built on a terrace, higher than the
Nile plain, so as to escape the inundations, and thus
stood at an elevation. When Rome became Chris-
tianized, howrever, this temple, which had previously
been a favorite of all the Roman emperors, who had
added to its construction and decoration, fell into
neglect and decay. An inscription on the walls
states that the time occupied in the original con-
struction was 108 years, 6 months and 14 days.
After Theodosius forbade the worship of idols,
and the temple was abandoned, a village of
huts, built of sun-dried bricks, sprang up around
it. These gradually crumbled into rubbish and
were supplanted by others, built on the dust into
which the first village had fallen. This process
continuing, by many repetitions, during the cen-
turies, made a mound around, and finally on top of

568 • THE MEDITERRANEAN

the temple, and when the government, in the last
centurv, decided to excavate and disclose it, work
began by taking the mud huts off the roof. The
whole temple, inside and outside, is sculptured in
every available space with hieroglyphics and reliefs,
that were originally brightly colored. The grand
hall, of enormous Hathor-headed columns, has,
pictured on the ceiling, Newt, the goddess of the sky,
with long body and extended arms, controlling the
movements of the heavenly bodies; the sun's rays
shining in blessing upon Hathor's head; the moon
issuing from Newt's mouth ; the sailing boats of the
planets; the flying horses of the day and night;
and the signs of the zodiac. This latter representa-
tion was at first believed to be of very remote an-
tiquity, but it was found to lack the sign of Cancer,
and now the antiquaries date it only from the Ptol-
emies, the zodiac not being used by the earlier
pharaohs. In one of the inner chambers a small
and somewhat similar planisphere was found, and
taken to Paris. The investigators hold the opinion
that this temple was so constructed that the priests
could watch from the sanctuary, along the temple
axis, the rise of the principal star in the Great Bear,
or the principal star of Draco. The inscriptions
mention the first founding of a temple here in the
dynasty preceding Menes. In the decorations of
the outer wall are rude portraits of Cleopatra and
her son Csesarion. The whole structure consists of

BENI-HASAN TO DEXDERAH 569

three large halls, an isolated sanctuary, and several
small chambers, the columns in some of these dis-
playing, on their capitals, the budding lotus. The
roof is flat, and formed of oblong stone slabs.
Small holes, cut in ceiling or sides, admitted light,
and some of the lower rooms were lighted only by
the few rays finding their way through apertures
communicating with rooms overhead. The sanc-
tuary is a dark inner chamber, enclosed on three
sides. A long stone stairway ascends to the roof,
there being pictured on the stairway walls a cere-
monial procession of the priests.

Upon the opposite side of the Nile is Keneh, 406
miles above Cairo, a large town noted for its manu-
facture of porous water-jars, and an assembly place
for gathering the pious of Upper Egypt, to make the
annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Formerly they went
over a caravan route, through the desert eastward to
the Red Sea, but now they go by the easier railway
route to Cairo and Suez. At Naquada, above, was
recently discovered the tomb of !Newt-hotep, the
queen of Menes. The visitor has now come into
the Thebaid, with its relics of the great city, on
both banks of the river, and the halt is made at
Luxor on the eastern bank, 454 miles from Cairo,
the chief modern abiding place of the tourist, which
gives a splendid outlook at the glorious sunset, seen
beyond the Nile, over the Theban hills bounding the
western horizon.

570 THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE GREATEST EOYPTIAN" CAPITAL.

Thebes was the capital of Egypt in its time of
greatest development, the Middle Empire, and is
the most important place on the Nile for the sight-
seer. It was the chief seat of the worship of
Ammon, and hence became the Hebrew No-Ammon,
while the Greeks and Romans called it Diospolis the
Great. The Egyptian name was Ap or Ape, con-
verted, by the use of the feminine article, into Tape,
the head, which being pronounced in the Memphian
dialect, Theba, was easily changed by the Greeks
into ThebsB, while Juvenal and Pliny called it
Thebe. In antiquity, it claimed to be the oldest
city in the world, but it is not believed to have been
founded as early as Memphis, which it superseded
as the capital. The Thebaid extended over the
plains, on both sides of the Nile, to the chains of
hills enclosing the valley, and the city stood near
the centre. Strabo describes the vestiges of the
city, in his time, as extending about ten miles along
the Nile, and Diodorus estimated the circuit at
seventeen miles, while the ruins indicate that it cov-
ered about sixteen square miles, on both sides of the
river. They are among the most magnificent ruins
in the world, and are found at the villages of Luxor
and Karnak on the eastern bank, and Kurna and
Medinet Habu on the western side. The mass of
the population of the ancient city seems to have

THE GREATEST EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 571

lived on the eastern shore, while on the west side
were temples and palaces, with their grand avenues
of sphynxes, and the rock-hewn tombs of the kings
and nobles. The most flourishing period of Thebes
was the eighteenth dynasty, and it began declining
in the eighth century B. C. The Persians pillaged
it in the seventh and sixth centuries, Cambyses
coming in the later period. Ptolemy Lathyrus, 86
B. C., destroyed it, and it then lost all political and
commercial importance, though continuing after-
ward as the sacerdotal capital of the worshippers
of Ammon. The trade originally supporting it
went to Alexandria. In the early Christian era it
was desolated, in their zeal against idolatrous mon-
uments, and afterward was further ravaged by
Arabs, Nubians and the Saracens, losing all im-
portance after the latter had come into control, so
that for centuries during the middle ages it was
almost forgotten.

The town of Luxor is an active place, devoted to
the tourist trade, for here come most of the visitors
to Egypt, many making a protracted sojourn.
There are consequently good hotels, and the town has
become a noted winter health resort, as it is recog-
nized that a whole winter will hardly suffice for a
thorough view and examination of all the Theban
antiquities. The river embankment and main street
are full of shops, providing goods of all kinds, and
also great numbers of curios and relics known in

572 THE MEDITERRANEAN

Egypt as " antikos," some of them of very recent
manufacture. The native town is a large aggrega-
tion of mud huts, occupied by the fellahs and Arabs.
Near the river bank are the ruins of the Luxor
temple, which have been partially excavated and
disclosed, through government work, during the last
twenty years. To secure funds for excavating
Egyptian ruins and making them accessible, a fee
of 120 piastres, or £1, 4s, 7d, being about $6, is ex-
acted by the government, which provides a ticket,
giving the holder access to all the monuments and
temples throughout the country, and for 10 shillings,
the Theban ruins are accessible. In the Luxor
temple there is a little white mosque at one corner,
covering the tomb of a Mohammedan saint, and as
it would be sacrilege to disturb this tomb, possession
could not be got for purposes of excavation without
producing an insurrection and possible " holy war,"
so that it was not attempted. The original temple
was built by Amenhotep IV, and dedicated to
Ammon, but a century later, Eameses II, in the
height of his extraordinary reign, enlarged the
structure, adorning it with colossal statues of him-
self, and covered the walls with pictures, reliefs
and inscriptions in self-glorification. There are in
front, two huge sitting statues of Rameses, each
about forty feet high, one having been completely
excavated and disclosed, while the other is still cov-
ered breast high with accumulated sands and rub-

THE GREATEST EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 573

bish. In the court of the temple are other colossal
standing statues of Eameses, placed between the
gigantic pillars.

The ancient Egyptian idea of regal importance
seems to have been denoted by bigness, in frequent
repetition. Hence the number and size of these
huge statues. One of these colossal reproductions
of Eameses is accompanied by the statue of his
Queen Xefertari, her relative importance, when
compared with the king, being indicated by a dimin-
utive sculpture, reaching only as high as the knee
of the great stone Eameses, behind whom she seems
to cower. Yet this queen was the daughter of a
pharaoh, and the Arabs declare that she was the
princess who found Moses hidden in the bulrushes,
down by the river bank near Cairo. Standing in
front of this temple of Luxor originally were two
beautiful obelisks of red granite, covered with in-
scriptions. One still stands here, and the other was
presented by Mehemet Ali to King Louis Philippe
of France, and was taken to Paris, where it is now
the centre of the Place de la Concorde. The rigors
of the Parisian atmosphere are destroying the in-
scriptions upon it, while the inscriptions upon
the obelisk remaining here are as plain as
when originally made, so much gentler are the
airs of the ^ile Valley. This Luxor temple is
constructed in two courts, and a series of apart-
ments, connected and surrounded by colonnades,

574: THE MEDITERRANEAN

with adjoining porticos. In the decorations are
representations of the Egyptian victory and capture
of the fortress of Kadesh in Syria, with the triumph-
ant king in his chariot, charging upon, his foes,
the Hittites, who are flying before him. The story
of this great battle is told in the hieroglyphic inscrip-
tions, in a most grandiloquent way. It was about
the only military achievement of the great Rameses,
whose vanity was colossal, and he has made the most
of it here and elsewhere. In fact, the researches
have proven that he had his name and glorification
inscribed on many temples and monuments that
were built long before his time, claiming every-
thing.

In approaching Luxor, coming up the Nile, the
huge pylon of the great temple of Karnak is seen
from afar. It is northeast of the town of Luxor,
a little way, and the road to it, over which the don-
keys race, is through fields of grass and desert sands
that usually rise in clouds of dust around the vis-
iting cavalcade. Formerly, the Luxor temple and
the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak were united by an
avenue guarded by rows of sphynxes, sacred to Ha.
The road leads direct to this huge pylon, or entrance
gate to the Karnak temple enclosure, it having been
built by the Ptolemies. Karnak, which is the
greatest ruin in Egypt, has three important groups
of temples : that dedicated to Ammon, the head of the
Theban triad, that of Khonsu, the son, and that of

THE GREATEST EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 575

Mut, the wife and mother. The pylon is usually
ascended, so that from this high elevation the plan
of the ruins may be traced out. In front is seen
an avenue of sphynxes, going off to the river bank,
and far over on the other side to Kurna, the temple
of Seti I, where the avenue led. The vast court of
the temple of Karnak is girdled by a wall, all
around, having beyond it a huge hypostyle hall.
The Temple of Khonsu is a small affair, compara-
tively, seen at a little distance. It is decorated
with columns, sculptured in papyrus, with bud cap-
itals, its sanctuary being open at each end, which is
unusual in the Egyptian temples.

The girdle wall of brick, bounding the great
court of Karnak, encloses a space 1,800 feet long and
nearly as broad. The avenue of sphynxes coming
up from the river, approaching it, had rams' heads,
being sacred to Ammon, but they have been mostly
destroyed. Between this avenue and the main tem-
ple there are five pylons and four spacious courts.
Statues and other relics and inscriptions have been
found in the buildings, some of them dating back
to the second dynasty, so the belief is that this
temple was really begun, in some form, in the most
ancient Egyptian period. The chief constructors,
however, were Rameses I, Seti I, Rameses II and
Amenhotep III, in the eighteenth and subsequent
dynasty, and as late as 1300 B. C., so that to this
period the most stupendous part of the work belongs.

576 THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Egyptian government has a force of natives
constantly excavating the sands and debris that
have so long covered the ruins, and there also have
been made needed repairs, and some of the fallen
columns are raised. These native excavators, here
as elsewhere, do their work in the most primitive
manner. Both men and boys are engaged, and
taskmasters with whips direct them. The sand and
rubbish are scooped into small buckets, and putting
these on their heads, they lazily walk off in long
lines to the deposit heap, singing as they go, for
which labor the men get about twenty-five cents and
the boys ten to fifteen cents a day. The structure,
thus being unearthed by excavators, is stupendous.
The ancient architects handled stones of immense size
by some method not now known, and the walls and
columns were built of the most enduring strength
and solidity, as well as of gigantic size. The huge
entrance pylon, which the visitor usually ascends, is
a noble portal to the Temple of Ammon, 142 feet
high and 372 feet wide, with walls 16 feet thick.

In the first court there were four obelisks of
Thothmes I, of which one still remains, and in the
ruined colonnade of the second court the great obe-
lisk erected by Queen Hatasu, in memory of her
father, Thothmes, stands among the fragments of
the columns, the handsomest, as it is the tallest,
obelisk in Egypt. The inscription records that it
was quarried at Assouan, brought down the river,

THE GREATEST EGYPTIAN CAPITAL 577

and erected here in seven months. In the court,
which is in front of the ruined sanctuary, are two
famous pillars erected by Thothmes III, represent-
ing the two kingdoms. One bears the papyrus of
lower Egypt, and the other the open lotus flower,
the lily of Upper Egypt. Behind this sanctuary
are the remains of the temple of the Middle Em-
pire, the great temple, ' which was in full splendor
from the thirteenth to the sixth century B. C. This
wonderful Hypostyle Hall, or " Hall of Columns,"
of Karnak, is 80 feet high, 338 feet long, and about
170 feet broad, covering an area of nearly 50,000
square feet. Rawlinson, the noted Egyptologist,
writes of it : " The grandest of all Seti's work was
his pillared hall at Karnak, the most splendid single
chamber that has ever been built by any architect,
and even in its ruins one of the grandest sights that
this world contains." The old Egyptians knew
nothing of the construction of the arch, and it is
n